BlacknwhiteIchiRukiSpecial
by Theresa Crane
Summary: Happy Valentine's Day go to chapter 4! ENJOY! Disclaimer-Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite
1. Santasan

**A/N-I decided to make a different story for all Holiday or Special Occasion IchiRuki stories, so you'll only see this updated for something like a holiday chapter or something really special that inspires a chapter. A bit OOC, but lots of people are happier at Christmas. **

** Hit up my profile to see other IchiRuki stories written by me, along with AMVs, and you can also get to the Black & White IchiRuki forums through my profile! Please enjoy, and Merry Christmas!**

_Santa-san_

Ichigo sighs since his father has completely lost his mind. Since Rukia has never experienced a real Christmas, Isshin is determined to make the season a fun one for her, and has gone all out with decorations and his own holiday scheme.

_How did I let him bribe me into this?_

Ichigo sighs again. He knows how it happened…his father promised not to wake him up obnoxiously from Christmas to February if Ichigo cooperated, and Ichigo now thinks he may have answered too quickly.

_Like she'll even believe that I'm Santa-san…_

But Isshin had gone all out to make sure the costume was perfect. With the stuffing in his belly, the white wig covering all traces of orange hair, red hat, beard, color contacts to turn his eyes blue, fake white eyebrows, and spectacles, he won't resemble Kurosaki Ichigo at all. He'll look like Santa-san. He'd worried Rukia would sense him through his reiatsu, so he got a cologne from Urahara to spray on the costume, to mask his reiatsu, and give it a different feel.

Ichigo has already been filled in on his father's plans, and to his own horror, he found himself wanting to succeed in convincing Rukia that he's Santa-san, because she's been all into the whole celebration of Christmas, and he doesn't want her smile to fade away.

_The holiday for lovers in Japan…_

Ichigo knows if his father's plan succeeds, Rukia will probably have a really great time, so he's worked on disguising his voice a bit, and he hopes Rukia is radiantly happy when he appears as Santa.

Ichigo sighs nervously, since he's supposed to pull some sort of Clark Kent and Superman act, disappearing just before Santa-san arrives, and coming back after Santa-san leaves. Ichigo figures it works out best this way, because if anyone else were playing Santa-san, he'd be standing next to Rukia, rolling his eyes, and feeling generally annoyed.

Isshin has had a lot of fun explaining to Rukia that the holiday is for lovers, and then he'd even asked her if she had a gift in mind for Ichigo, which had made both of them turn crimson.

"Am I supposed to get him something?" Rukia had asked, with her face still bright red, and Isshin had laughed.

"Only if you love him!" Isshin's response had been enough to make Ichigo throw his cup at his father.

"Shut up old man!" Ichigo's shout was loud enough that it made his sisters cringe.

After much thought and consideration, Ichigo went and bought Rukia a stuffed white rabbit, just in case she got him a present.

_If she doesn't give me one, I'll just save it for her birthday…_

Then, all this morning, before the Kurosaki family party started, Isshin got Rukia all excited, by proclaiming that he had heard from Santa-san, and that the jolly old man will be making a special trip to the Kurosaki residence, in order to meet Isshin's honorary daughter.

"Really!?" Rukia had actually squealed…

"Yes, Rukia-chan! When he gets here, you'll have to sit on his lap and tell him what you want for Christmas!" Isshin had replied enthusiastically, not missing Ichigo's embarrassment at that statement.

"What I want for Christmas?" Rukia had echoed, and Isshin had nodded.

"You've been a really good girl this year, so I'm sure Santa-san will give you whatever you want." Isshin had said, and Rukia had smiled happily.

"I can ask for anything?" Rukia's next question had been, and Isshin had winked at her, completely delighted that he's helping her experience her first real Christmas.

"Santa-san is magical Rukia-chan. He can even give you presents you didn't know were possible. You can ask him for anything in the world, if I know Santa-san, he'll move heaven and earth to give you what you want." Isshin had said, and Rukia had looked thrilled.

"Then I can't wait to meet him!" Rukia had responded, and Isshin found her response to be highly entertaining.

"Yuzu-chan! Did you prepare the cookies for Santa-san?" Isshin called out, and his light haired daughter gave him a thumbs up.

"We have his favorite! Milk and chocolate chip cookies, with extra chocolate chips!" Yuzu announces, and Ichigo had felt his mouth water up.

_At least there are some benefits to playing Santa Clause for the night!_

Now that the party has started, Rukia is really restless, and excited about Santa-san's visit.

"When do you think he'll get here, Ichigo?" Rukia asks, and Ichigo shrugs.

"He's a busy man, but I'm sure he'll be here in the next hour! Shall we prepare his throne?" Isshin asks, and Rukia is happy to help him.

Ichigo crosses his arms as Rukia and Isshin push a big chair over by the fireplace, near the stockings, with the milk and cookies in reach.

"I really can't wait to meet him! I want to know his secret for visiting all of the children in the world in one night." Rukia says, and Isshin grins at her.

"I thought I already told you, Rukia-chan! Santa-san is magical!" Isshin says, and Rukia nods.

"You did say that, but I still wonder if he has a special trick he'll reveal to me." She explains, and Isshin laughs.

"I don't think he'll give away the secrets of his trade away to anyone other than his wife!" Isshin says, and Rukia smiles.

"Then I won't ask...I wonder how long he'll be able to stay." Rukia says, and Isshin gives her a regretful look.

"He'll stay as long as he can, but he does have to work tonight, so he can't stay a really long time." Isshin says, and Rukia nods her head.

Isshin gives Ichigo a look, and on cue, Ichigo grabs his stomach.

"My stomach hurts…I…I'll be back…" Ichigo grumbles, holding his stomach as if he's in pain.

"Hurry back or you'll end up missing Santa-san!" Rukia yells out, and Ichigo just gives her a hand wave as he hurries for the his father's bedroom, where the Santa costume is stashed.

He hurries, but the contacts give him the creeps, so it takes a couple of minutes for him to get them in. He secures the wig and hat, and puts on the beard before he gets into the costume, complete with black belt and boots. He sprays his costume with the special cologne, and hopes he's able to fool Rukia.

He puts on the spectacles, and then checks himself in the mirror to make sure not one strand of orange hair sticks out. He grabs the fake eyebrows to stick on top of his own, and then he sees the bouquet of pink roses with a note from Isshin to bring them for Rukia.

Ichigo studies himself for a good minute, to make sure there is nothing to give him away instantly, before he grabs the roses and slips out the back door connected to his father's bedroom.

"Can you get a fresh glass of milk, since this one has been sitting out too long, Rukia-chan?" Isshin asks, and Rukia hurries to do exactly that.

Isshin gives his daughters a pointed stare and puts his finger to his lips, before he hangs a bit of mistletoe above the chair that they have prepared for Santa Clause to sit in.

Rukia walks back in, carefully carrying the milk, but when there's a loud knock on the door, she drops the glass and milk spills all over the place from being startled.

"Oh no! Now he'll think I'm bad!" Rukia exclaims, and Karin rolls her eyes, while Yuzu jumps up.

"It's okay Rukia-chan it was only an accident! I'll clean it up, Karin-chan will get a fresh glass, and you should answer the door!" Yuzu says, and Rukia nods, even though her heart is pounding.

_I'm about to meet one of earth's biggest celebrities! _

Rukia throws open the door, and her face lights up like a Christmas Tree when she catches sight of the large bearded man smiling down at her.

"Ho ho, ho! Merry Christmas! Ah the famous Rukia-chan." Santa says in a low voice, and Rukia immediately curtsies.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Santa-san! Please come in!" Rukia says, and he gives her an apologetic look before he hands her the roses.

"The truth is that I'm far too large to have an easy time removing my boots…would you mind helping me?" Santa asks her, and Rukia blinks a few times before offering him a cheerful smile.

"Of course!" She hands the roses to Isshin before she drops to her knees, and assists Santa in the removal of his boots, not noticing the satisfied smile Santa is wearing due to her efforts.

It only takes her a moment to remove his boots, and offer him some indoor slippers.

"Ah Santa-san! Welcome back! I'm so happy you could make it to meet my honorary third daughter!" Isshin gushes, and Ichigo has to suppress the urge to roll his eyes at his dramatic father.

"You insisted." Santa says, and Rukia grins at Isshin, impressed that he was able to talk Santa-san into visiting.

"You're very persuasive!" Rukia says to Isshin, before she looks around to see if Ichigo has returned.

_The idiot still hasn't made it back! I knew he'd end up missing Santa-san!_

"I don't have a lot of time though, I have a full schedule tonight…" Santa says, as Karin walks into the room with milk, and Yuzu gets to scrubbing the spill on the floor, she smiles up at the fat guest who has arrived though.

"Welcome, Santa-san!" Yuzu says cheerfully, and Karin waves, even though she doesn't want to, in order to keep up her father's appearances.

"We have a chair right over there for you!" Isshin says, pointing it out, and Rukia's eyes are lit up with happiness as she watches Santa make his way to the chair and get settled.

"Are you comfortable, Santa-san?" Rukia asks, and the old man meets her eyes, holding her stare with his own bright blue eyes as he nods his affirmation.

"If you're hungry or thirsty, we have cookies and milk there for you." Yuzu tells him, and he nods again before taking a cookie, and eating it while watching everyone else curiously.

"Rukia-chan has never experienced Christmas before Santa-san, and since we know you're busy, we're only going to have her sit on your lap to tell you what she wants." Isshin says, and Santa sets down the half eaten cookie to take a gulp of milk, but his cheeks seem a tiny bit redder.

Santa nods again, and Rukia smiles.

"Was the cookie good?" She asks, and he rubs his belly appreciatively.

"I'm always left the best cookies in the world at this house…" Santa says, before he picks up the rest of his cookie and eats it.

"Thank you, Santa-san!" Yuzu sings out, and Rukia can't stop smiling as she studies Santa.

_He seems sort of familiar…who is it that he reminds me of?_

"Are you ready for Rukia-chan?" Isshin asks, noting how his son can't stop turning red at the idea of having the petite Shinigami in his lap.

All Ichigo can do is nod, and Rukia beams at him as she approaches him. She settles in his lap, and looks at him in the eye, even though he looks a bit distracted. He puts his arm loosely around her though, and tries not to think dirty thoughts.

"Santa-san?" Rukia asks, and he looks fairly disgruntled at this point.

"What?" Santa asks, and he feels hot in his heavy clothing, as she leans closer to his ear.

"For Christmas…I want…" Rukia trails off for a moment before she starts again. "…uh…I want the strength to say I love you to the man I love." Rukia says it so extremely softly, that her words make it to Santa's ears alone.

"Who?" Santa can't help but whisper, and he watches as Rukia's face goes crimson, but she leans back to his ear.

"Kurosaki Ichigo." Rukia's voice is like the wind it's so soft, but the feel of her breath against his ear makes him shiver a little bit.

"I'll see what I can do." Santa says, in a low voice, but it cracks the tiniest bit in his nervous excitement. Luckily for him, she doesn't notice.

"Thank you." Rukia says, and Isshin stands there with a camera.

"You want a picture with Santa-san don't you Rukia-chan?" Isshin asks, and Rukia nods excitedly.

Ichigo wants to die as his father takes several pictures, but he keeps one arm around Rukia, and manages a smile for the picture taking.

"Her first pictures with Santa!" Yuzu says with a happy smile, and Karin nods as she looks over at the pictures of all of the Kurosaki kids at one point or another with Santa.

There's even one of Karin on one knee and Yuzu on the other on Santa's lap from a few years ago.

"Now he's going to put hers out with ours next year." Karin says, with a thoughtful smile, since she's well aware that her brother is playing Santa for this occasion.

"Hey Santa-san! Look up! I know your wife won't mind if you follow the tradition associated with mistletoe!" Isshin says with a gleeful smile, and Ichigo about dies as he looks up, and does indeed see mistletoe that he's _sure_ wasn't there before.

"The tradition associated with mistletoe? What is it?" Rukia ask, excited to take part in a tradition with the famed Santa-san.

"When caught underneath it, you have to kiss." Isshin says, and Rukia blinks.

"Really?" She asks, as she starts wondering how she can get Ichigo near the mistletoe.

_He's not here, so he doesn't know it's here…unless he saw it earlier…_

"Kiss her Santa-san!" Isshin says with a wink, and he holds up the camera as Ichigo throws him a quick glare, before he leans over to kiss Rukia on the cheek.

The problem is, she turns her face to look at him, so he catches her lips at the same time he sees a flash.

"Rukia-chan kissed Santa-san!" Yuzu exclaims merrily, and even Karin can't stop smiling at that spoken fact.

_Even well disguised, I can tell Ichi-ni is embarrassed…_

"It's okay we won't tell his wife." Isshin says with a smirk, and Ichigo wants to die since he knows there will be a picture…

"I don't have any time left…" Ichigo says, holding his voice in disguise, even though Rukia looks sad.

"But Ichigo hasn't come back yet!" Rukia exclaims, and Isshin shrugs.

"His loss. Thanks for stopping by Santa-san!" Isshin says, and Rukia gets off of his lap.

Santa stands, and walks over to his boots.

"Do you need help, Santa-san?" Rukia asks, and Santa nods his head.

"Thank you, Rukia-chan." Ichigo hates adding 'chan' at the end, but he's playing a damned role, with a performance that outshines her typical schoolgirl act.

"Sayonara, Santa-san." Rukia says softly as he opens the door, and he glances back at her.

Isshin is able to sneak another piece of mistletoe above the entrance to the kitchen, without anyone noticing. He smirks at his own ingenuity as he watches his son end his debut performance of Santa Clause.

"Merry Christmas! Ho ho, ho!" Santa says, before he walks out the door.

Ichigo scrambles back in through the back of the house, through his father's bedroom, and rushes to get out of the entire disguise.

The whole time he's getting rid of the Santa Clause disguise, he can't stop thinking about what Rukia said to him.

_I guess I'll give her the rabbit even if she doesn't have anything for me…since I know she wants to tell me she loves me, maybe it will make it easier for her…_

Once again he has trouble with the contact lens, but he manages, and hurries back into the living room.

"Ichigo!" Rukia's voice is loud and annoyed, and he looks surprised.

"What?" He asks, and she puts her hands on her hips.

"You _missed_ Santa-san!" Rukia tells him, before she grabs him by the ear, and drags him down to her level.

"Ouch! Sorry Rukia, my stomach was hurting!" Ichigo yelps out, and she releases his ear.

"Rukia-chan…" Isshin says with a triumphant smile, and she looks at him questioningly.

"Yes?" She asks, and he points up.

Rukia and Ichigo both look up and turn bright red when they see the mistletoe. Rukia's mouth opens and closes a few times.

_Somehow this was less embarrassing with Santa-san._

"When did _that_ get there?" Ichigo nearly wails, since it was bad enough that his family witnessed their first kiss with him in disguise…now he's supposed to share his second kiss with her in front of them too?

"I think I saw Santa-san perform a bit of magic, and put it there before he left." Isshin says, and Ichigo throws his father a warning look.

_Like hell! I was Santa-san, and I'd know if I did something like that!_

"Sure…" Ichigo mutters, and Isshin raises an eyebrow.

"Son…don't you know what you're supposed to do when you're under the mistletoe? You're supposed to kiss her." Isshin says, gently massaging the camera in his hand, excited to snap this picture as well.

"I know what I'm supposed to do, shut your trap old man!" Ichigo snaps, before he lets out a sigh of defeat and leans down to kiss Rukia gently on the lips.

They both close their eyes, and sure enough, Isshin snaps more pictures.

Rukia turns pink, and doesn't move while Ichigo kisses her, but his lips only rest on hers a tiny bit longer than necessary before he pulls away and looks away from her.

"Ichigo?" Rukia says, and he looks back at her, suddenly worried she'll make her confession in front of his family…and he doesn't want that, because there will definitely be pictures taken of that too, if she says it now.

"What?" Ichigo asks nervously, and Rukia beams at him.

"Merry Christmas, idiot." She says softly, and he grins back at her.

"Merry Christmas." Ichigo says softly, and Isshin smiles at the change he can already sense between them.

_Merry Christmas to me! Rukia-chan will definitely be my daughter for real, after she marries my son!_

"You're too proud of yourself." Karin mumbles, and luckily only Isshin hears her. He nods at her with a conspiratorial wink.

"You betcha!" Isshin sings softly.

_Later…_

"Ichigo…I made you something for Christmas, since I didn't have any money, and your sister helped me…" Rukia says, and Ichigo looks at her with interest.

"You did? What did you make me?" He asks, and she runs over to the closet to pull out a small wrapped gift, before she hands it to him.

He opens it up, and finds that she made him some homemade fudge.

"Merry Christmas." Rukia says softly, and Ichigo smiles happily at her as he eyes the fudge.

"Fudge! Fudge is my favorite!" Ichigo exclaims, but he sets down the gift and opens up the drawer in his night stand, with the Christmas theme bag, and stuffed rabbit on the inside.

"You got me something?" Rukia asks with a pleased smile, and Ichigo nods as he blushes, since he knows she remembers his father had told her that Christmas is a holiday for lovers…

"Merry Christmas, Rukia." Ichigo says softly, and he watches as she snatches the bag and pulls it open.

Her eyes widen, when she sees the stuffed rabbit on the inside.

"Chappy!" Rukia squeals, before she pulls it out and leaps on Ichigo to hug him.

He hugs her back as she laughs into his shoulder.

"I knew you'd like it." Ichigo says in an embarrassed voice, but she surprises him by pulling back just enough to kiss him…their first _private _kiss.

"I love it…and you." Rukia tells him, and he feels like his heart is about to take off flying in the sky from his happiness.

He yanks her back into his arms.

"I love you too. Always have." He mutters against her soft skin, and he realizes that for Christmas, he got the most wonderful gift in the world.

_Finally! For Christmas, I got Rukia's love…_


	2. IchiRuki New Year 2009

**A/N-This is not a continuation from the Christmas chapter…it's Ichigo and Rukia as we know them now, though I did consider making it a continuation until I decided on the plot. I wish everyone a wonderful and happy new year!**

_IchiRuki New Year_

"What is this reiatsu I sense?" Rukia asks, as she sets down the book, and then her eyes widen as she realizes precisely what it is.

"It seems like Shinigami…" Ichigo replies, but Rukia isn't even listening to him anymore.

"Ichigo! What day is it?" Rukia asks nervously, even though she's already got a sneaking suspicion of what day it is.

"It's the last day of the year." Ichigo says, as she walks over to the window to look outside.

"I knew it." Rukia mutters uneasily, as the reiatsu gets closer and closer to them.

"What did you know?" Ichigo asks, and Rukia looks away.

_Flashback_

"Why is the League of Women Shinigami inquiring about my relationship with Ichigo?" Rukia asks, and she's laughed at by everyone.

"It's obvious Kurosaki Ichigo could be our ally…can you imagine having him on our side when he finally comes to Soul Society?" Nanao asks with excited eyes, and Rukia rolls her eyes.

"That's years from now." Rukia argues, and Rangiku laughs.

"It passes by quickly enough. The last one hundred years seemed to fly by if you ask me." Rangiku says, and a few of the other women nod, except Soi Fong, who felt time moved even slower when she wasn't with Yoruichi.

"It's still not something we have to worry about today though!" Rukia says, but a few of the other women start laughing at her.

"If you're not interested in dating him, do you mind if I make a play for him? I would love to corrupt his virgin mind!" Rangiku asks with a knowing look in her eyes, and Rukia crosses her arms.

"I don't make those decisions for Ichigo, ask him yourself." Rukia tries to keep her voice normal, but the other women all pick up on her agitation.

"Stop it Rangiku-san! We all know Kurosaki Ichigo has only one girl on his mind, and you're antagonizing her!" Kiyone says, and Rukia turns bright red.

"What are you saying!?" Rukia hisses at Kiyone, not really appreciating her help.

"Come on! Tell me…how often do you see him attack a woman?" Kiyone asks, and Rukia thinks back in her head.

"With the exception of hollows, Ichigo doesn't prey on women…" Faltering, Rukia looks around as she tries to figure out the deal, and why she's the center of attention.

"Exactly! Yet I saw him hit nee-san when he came here to save you!" Kiyone argues, and Rukia sighs.

"Alright everyone, stop torturing her…" Nanao says, but Rangiku can't stop smirking as she stands and gets everyone's attention.

"For today, we'll stop torturing her…hell, we'll even stop torturing her for the rest of this year! But…" Rangiku turns to face Rukia, locking in stares with the shorter Shinigami.

"But what?" Rukia asks, wondering what kind of sick scheme Rangiku is planning.

"But if you and Ichigo aren't a couple by the time the New Year comes, we won't leave you alone until you are!" Rangiku says without losing her wicked smile.

_End Flashback_

Rukia feels a bit lightheaded as she suddenly remembers that day.

"I don't have a very good feeling about this…" Rukia says, even as Ichigo stares at all of the emotions crossing her face.

_Even when she was about to be killed she didn't look as nervous as she does now…what is her deal?_

"Mind answering my question?" Ichigo asks, and Rukia looks lost.

"What question?" She asks, and he rolls his eyes.

"You said you knew it, and then I asked what you knew." Ichigo reminds her, and Rukia shakes her head.

"I'd rather know for sure before I explain it." Rukia says, even as Ichigo closes his eyes to concentrate on the reiatsu that is quickly approaching them.

"Damn there sure are a lot of them. What are they here for anyways?" Ichigo asks, and Rukia sighs.

"They've come to party on New Year's Eve. The League of Women Shinigami have a monopoly on the day. Every New Year's Eve, we all come to the living world to party with the humans." Rukia tells him, and Ichigo looks terrified at the very prospect of the rambunctious women in the League of Women Shinigami all partying nearby.

"You do?" Ichigo asks, but then his eyes widen.

"Wait…you belong to that group don't you?" Ichigo asks, looking a bit put out, thinking he won't be able to spend the evening with her, and Rukia nods her head.

"Yes." Rukia's reply sounds forlorn and Ichigo doesn't understand why she seems so odd today.

_She's worried about something…_

"Is something wrong?" Ichigo asks, and Rukia turns to him.

"Good afternoon! We're here early just so we can decide on how we're partying tonight!" Rangiku's voice makes Ichigo jump since he'd been more focused on Rukia, but when he looks at his open window he's forced to jump again.

"Why are you all_ here _though?" Ichigo asks, motioning his room and giving Rangiku a look like she's lost her marbles.

"Didn't you hear me?" Rangiku asks, and Ichigo balls his fists.

"I don't mean why are you in the living world…I mean why is there a hoard of Shinigami outside my bedroom window!?" Ichigo snaps at her, and Rangiku laughs at him.

"Don't be so shy, if it gets too warm some of us might remove our robes!" Rangiku's teasing makes Ichigo turn pink, but he scowls at the same time.

"I'd like you to get out of here…Rukia will happily meet you somewhere that's not my bedroom." Ichigo's voice is a bit shaky and Rangiku laughs.

"Why are you acting as if this doesn't concern you? Of course you'll be joining us tonight!" Rangiku says, and Ichigo's eyes widen.

_I definitely didn't think I'd be welcome with the League of Women Shinigami when they're partying…aren't they men haters or something? Why am I so welcome in this instance?_

"How do you know I didn't have plans?" Ichigo snaps at the women, but Nanao pushes Rangiku off the bed and onto the floor as she hops down onto his bed while pushing up her glasses.

"Oh? You made plans that didn't involve Kuchiki?" Nanao's voice is soft enough that it startles Ichigo…because the intensity of her eyes is as though she just screamed at him.

"That's not what I said." Ichigo growls in annoyance and Nanao smiles.

"Ah, I get it." She says mysteriously, and Yachiru leaps onto the bed next.

"Icchy wanted to have her all to himself tonight! If they're already together then-" Nanao covers Yachiru's mouth, but her hand is promptly bitten.

"Shhhh!" Nanao hisses even as she tries to shake the pain out of her hand.

Ichigo is red and Rukia is sweating, because Yachiru was clearly talking about the two of them being together…

"Oi!" Ichigo snaps in anger, and Rukia sighs.

"Yes Ichigo?" Rangiku says, and he glares in anger at her.

"Didn't you hear me? Get out of my room!" Ichigo is sure he's going to lose all of his sanity at any moment and then…

_Psh! Yeah right King… You losing your sanity still wouldn't be as scary as me showing up. Why don't you give the girls a taste of your bad side?_

Ichigo clutches his head in frustration while the women all stare at him.

"Fine…meet us in five minutes at the Urahara Store." Soi Fong orders from the outside, and the women all disappear one by one until it's just Ichigo and Rukia left.

"Ichigo…you would be doing yourself a huge favor to not piss off the members within the League of Women Shinigami. It's better to have them as a friend than as an enemy." Rukia tells him, and he gives her a quick look.

"What in the hell are you talking about? What kind of trouble can a bunch of women cause anyways?" Ichigo asks, and Rukia give him a look of horror before she smiles softly at him.

Ichigo freezes as she reaches up and touches his cheek.

"You're so naïve it's cute." She tells him, before she walks out of the room and heads to take a shower.

Ichigo stares after her, and he's reminded of other times she's touched his cheek. The first night they met, and he felt her hands on his face while he was out of it, after fighting Grande Fisher. Her reiatsu had lingered on him all night long. His thoughts are interrupted though, when his sister sticks her head through the door.

"Ichi-ni, did you make plans for tonight?" Karin asks, and Ichigo frowns.

"I think I'm supposed to be doing something with Rukia." Ichigo tells her, and Karin smiles.

"Date?" She asks, and her brother turns his head from her, but she doesn't miss him blushing.

"It's not a date, it's a group thing." Ichigo says honestly, since he doesn't view an evening with the League of Women Shinigami to be an actual date.

_But I think I would like to take Rukia on a real date…_

"Oh, okay I'll let everyone know. Dad's asking what everyone's plans are." Karin tells him before she shuts the door and leaves him to himself.

Meanwhile, Rukia is in the tub, soaking while trying to come up with some sort of solution. She's one hundred and twenty percent positive that some trouble will arise tonight, and she does fear a bit what the women are capable of.

_Some of them are crazy what am I going to do? If I'd hooked up with him already I wouldn't have to worry about it, but I know they haven't forgotten their threat…they never forget their threats._

Rukia sighs as she thinks about how the League of Women Shinigami stopped up all of the attempts by the League of Men Shinigami to be considered an official and respectable organization. It's altogether an unpleasant situation, and she wonders why she is being rushed to get into a relationship with Ichigo.

_It's not like he's going anywhere…I wanted to wait until he was man enough to admit he had those types of feelings._

Rukia sticks up her chin in determination. She has a plan.

_Nobody is going to force us to get together, we'll do it in our own time._

Rukia feels doubt even as she thinks this. Can she really escape what they have planned for her tonight?

_Later…_

Ichigo about jumps out of his skin when Rukia stalks into the room and pops her gikongan. He watches as she yanks on the badge at his side and pops him out if his body too.

"Is there a hollow?" Ichigo asks, as he senses her ominous attitude, and Rukia gives him an intensely serious look.

"Worse. It's the League of Women Shinigami."

"Eh? What are you talking about?" He asks, as he begins to wonder where her sanity is gone while she throws her gigai and his body into the closet.

"I'm talking about our plans tonight. They've changed. Instead of being with the League of Women Shinigami, we're running away." Rukia tells him, which makes him gape in shock at her.

"We're what?!" He asks, and she smacks him really hard.

"When you get excited, your reiatsu fluctuates!" She tells him, and he blushes in horror.

"I was not getting excited!" He argues, and Rukia nearly rolls her eyes at him, before she begins to chant a spell, which _really _worries him.

_What is she doing!?_

Suddenly she snaps her eyes open wider and finishes the chant, which makes Ichigo sweat with worry until he feels himself being surrounded by her reiatsu.

"Don't pass out idiot, a captain class Shinigami shouldn't pass out from that." Rukia says, sounding condescending enough to make him snap to attention.

"What did you just do?" He asks her suspiciously, and she rolls her eyes at him.

"I just hid your reiatsu since you're incapable of doing it yourself." Rukia tells him easily, even as she reduces her own reiatsu.

"Did I hear you say we're running away?" He asks quietly, and Rukia nods her head vigorously.

"Hell yeah we're running away…trust me Ichigo." Rukia looks worried enough that Ichigo begins to have serious concerns about what the League of Women Shinigami might actually be capable of.

"How long are we running away for?" He asks, and Rukia bites her lip nervously.

"Probably until tomorrow night…the day after if possible." Rukia says in a serious tone, and Ichigo simply nods, successfully hiding his blush.

"Fine…let me leave dad a note…" Ichigo grimaces as he imagines his father finding the note and then of course his father will get all mushy and decide in his head that Ichigo will become a man for the new year.

_Running away with Rukia eh? I wonder what we'll do._

"We have to get far away from this town as quickly as possible." Rukia says as he scribbles his father a quick note, and places it on the bed.

"Do you need me to carry you so we can move more quickly?" Ichigo asks, and Rukia scoffs at his offer.

"Fool. I have my Shinigami powers back, I don't need you to carry me." She tells him in a bossy tone, and Ichigo crosses his arm before he looks her straight in the eye.

"I've carried you when you had your powers back." He reminds her, and she frowns.

"Not because I needed you to though. Okay we need to go, come on!" Rukia says, cutting off all talk at the moment.

She grabs his wrist and tugs him towards the window before she releases him and jumps out.

* * *

"You're amazing Yoruichi-sama, how did you know they'd run?" Soi Fong says, since she didn't think anyone would fathom even attempting to escape the clutches of the League of Women Shinigami.

"She knows what you're all capable of. That's the only reason she's going to this extreme…but I think you ought to let it go. Wouldn't it be better if they got together naturally than through you all meddling in their business?" Yoruichi asks, and Rangiku waves her hand in the air.

"We'll give them until a half hour before the New Year. Nemu will not lose a visual on the two. If they aren't looking like they're together by then, we'll drag them to the party and get them together ourselves!" Rangiku says, and everyone seems to like that idea.

"Oh, looks like they're going for distance." Yoruichi says, as she watches the flashing light on the screen.

"They didn't even notice that they were put in a binding spell when we all arrived. We did good in distracting them. Even hiding the reiatsu won't save them from us!" Rangiku says, and the other women smile while Yoruichi shakes her head.

"Sometimes…you can be very scary." Yoruichi tells them, and Soi Fong drops to her knees in front of Yoruichi at that compliment.

"Yoruichi-sama! I'm honored you think that!"

_Later…_

"Hokkaido?" Ichigo is shocked they've come this far.

"We will probably be safe here…" Rukia says, even though she feels instinctively uneasy.

Ichigo instinctively wants to do something to make her feel better, to get her to smile, but he has no idea what to do. They walk around at a normal pace until they hear a lot of noise coming from a bar.

"Want to go in?" Ichigo asks when she stops to stare, and Rukia nods.

"Yeah lets check it out."

They walk inside the place and Ichigo is shocked when Rukia hops behind the bar to make their drinks.

"Rukia!" Ichigo says as he looks around for any spiritually sensitive people who can see them, and she looks up at him.

"Do you have a preference on what you drink or is anything fine?" She asks, and he's still nervous she'll be spotted.

"Whatever!" He yelps at her, but she takes her sweet time in preparing two drinks even as she lectures him.

"What are you nervous about? These people can't see us…we only have to worry about that in Karakura Town." Rukia tells him in a no nonsense voice as she shakes up the two metal cups together like she's done it before.

"Do you even know what you're doing?" Ichigo asks even as he's busy being impressed by how sure of herself she seems.

"Of course I do, I'm not an idiot." Rukia says, as she finishes up and pours the mixture into two separate cups.

Ichigo realizes that nobody notices them, so he takes a breath and that's when some music starts up.

"Oi Rukia…do you like to dance?" Ichigo asks, and Rukia gives him a sideways look.

"Sure." She replies, as if dancing doesn't matter to her at all.

Ichigo feels nervous, since even though they're around a lot of people, it's like it's only the two of them, since nobody else sees their presence. He takes a sip of the drink she made for him and his eyes widen in pleasure.

"Rukia…this is really good!" He exclaims, and Rukia chuckles.

"You're surprised? Rangiku-san insisted the League of Women Shinigami all attend her bartending class, which lasted a full year. She said that it would serve us all well to learn how to make a good drink for the rest of our lives. A word of advice, if she ever offers you her Kamikaze, turn it down!" Rukia tells him, and Ichigo blinks.

"I'll keep that in mind." He says earnestly, and Rukia holds up her finger.

"And don't say I warned you…she'd never let me hear the end of it if she knew. It's against the rules to warn a man against it." Rukia tells him, and Ichigo smiles.

"You're always breaking rules for me." He says as he takes another sip, and Rukia laughs.

"You're a bad influence." She tells him, since breaking the rules for him comes as naturally as breathing.

"Don't say that! I like to believe I inspired you." Ichigo says, and Rukia looks away, amazed that he has her pegged so clearly.

_You did inspire me. The speed at which you progressed was nothing less than inspiring…_

"You like to flatter yourself don't you?" Rukia asks, and Ichigo looks away.

"Admit it." He says in a quiet but demanding voice, and Rukia smiles.

"I can't deny you have the power to inspire people. After all, you convinced Sado, Ishida, and Inoue to come with you to save me in Soul Society, without them even knowing just how dire the situation was there." Rukia says thoughtfully, and Ichigo laughs.

"I didn't convince them…I didn't even ask them to come. They all decided to come without me saying a word about it to them." Ichigo says, and Rukia nearly drops her drink.

"You're important to a lot of people." Rukia says quietly.

_Especially me._

"It's getting close to the new year…not even an hour." Ichigo says, as he notes the clock. He says that because he can't find the courage to ask her if she's one of those people.

_Of course I am…she always risks her neck for me…she stays with me. I'm definitely important to her…I don't need to ask, I don't need to hear her say it. I already know._

* * *

"What do you think?" Soi Fong asks Yoruichi, who shakes her head.

"They're so damn close! I really don't know how they manage to sidestep taking it to the next level. I thought…for a moment, that maybe they'd be able to do it without interference." Yoruichi says with a sigh, and Soi Fong nods.

"I understand. The League of Women Shinigami will now prepare to commence the party at the location of Kurosaki Ichigo and Kuchiki Rukia." Soi Fong says, and Rangiku hasn't spoken since she learned Rukia broke the rule.

"Rangiku-san…" Nanao says, and finally the top heavy Shinigami speaks.

"She broke my most sacred rule! I was planning on giving him my Kamikaze tonight!" Rangiku looks like she's about to cry, but then she sees the evil sparkle of a cunning idea in Nanao's glasses.

"You can still give it to him. We will not let her know we were watching her so closely. It is an invasion of privacy. Instead…we'll give the Kamikaze a nickname." Nanao says, and Rangiku smiles.

"I like it! Kurosaki Ichigo will definitely drink my Kamikaze tonight." She says, and Yoruichi raises an eyebrow.

"If it were me I'd give him Sex On The Beach!" Yoruichi pipes in, and the women all start to giggle.

"I wouldn't kick him out of my bedroom if he appeared." Rangiku says with a sigh and Soi Fong scoffs.

"You're coming, right Yoruichi-sama? As a special guest of the League of Women Shinigami?" Soi Fong asks, and Yoruichi smiles.

"I wouldn't miss this for the world." Yoruichi says with a grin and everyone smiles.

"Now it really will be a party!" Rangiku says, clapping her hands enthusiastically.

"I'll transport us there." Yoruichi says, and all of the women smile.

"We're off!" Yachiru squeals excitedly, as all of the women gather in a tight circle.

Nanao rubs her hands as the transportation process begins.

_We will have Kurosaki Ichigo as our ally, and we'll match him up with the love of his life in return. This is the day when everything will change. When a strong man appreciates the strength of a woman, it gains more notoriety with the other men. Our reputation will grow even more fearsome than it's been for the past century!_

* * *

"It's empty." Ichigo says, shaking his glass at Rukia, who smiles.

"Well…then have a sip of mine. It's easier to make two servings at a time with this particular drink." Rukia says as she nudges her cup towards him, and he takes it from her.

His whole body is tingling, just because he's about to put his lips where hers have been, and something about that thought makes him practically shiver.

He chooses the wrong moment to take a drink.

"Did you two forget we had plans? You're lucky we found you!" Rangiku-san's voice makes Ichigo spit out all of the liquid in his mouth, and Rukia stiffens up.

"How did you find us?" Rukia asks suspiciously, but Rangiku smiles.

"That's not what's important! What is important, is that we have to turn this party up by several notches! Let me make some drinks!" Rangiku says, and Rukia realizes she only had a reprieve…that there was no running away for her and Ichigo.

Rukia watches as Rangiku hops behind the counter and eyes all of the alcohol.

"I'd still like to know how you found me…" Rukia says, but Nanao just claps her on the back.

"Never underestimate the will of the League of Women Shinigami." She says in a way that spooks Rukia.

"What did you do?" Rukia whispers, but Rangiku just smiles.

"Ichigo! Would you like to try a Kyokudo Bomu?" Rangiku asks, and Rukia is instantly on alert.

"I've never heard of this drink before." She says, and Rangiku laughs.

"It's a beginner's drink. I don't think he's ready for a Kamikaze yet." Rangiku fibs, and Rukia nods.

"It has to be a beginner drink if I've never heard of it…or whatever you've concocted to outdo your terrifying Kamikaze." Rukia says, and Rangiku puts her finger to her lips.

"Shhhh!" Rangiku hisses before she looks back at Ichigo. "So? How about it?" She asks, and Ichigo gulps.

"Sure." He says, not realizing that it would be the crucial moment he decided how the New Year would start.

Nanao pulls Rukia away from Ichigo for a second and smiles.

"So? Are you two hooked up yet?" She asks, and Rukia frowns.

"Why is that such a concern to the League of Women Shinigami?" She asks, and Nanao laughs.

"We want him as an ally…and to be honest…I've always been curious about you two…when I see you together, my mind immediately thinks of the word passion. Isn't that romantic for someone like me?" Nanao asks, and Rukia stares at her in shock for a moment.

"True you did not sound like your usual self just now." Rukia tells her, and Nanao sighs.

"I try so hard to be strong…to be tough, and independent…but I am such a sucker for true love." She says, and Rukia fights the urge to chuckle.

_It was a surprise to me that I'm a sucker for it too…but I'm okay with it if things don't progress at the same pace as his Shinigami skills!_

"I understand how you feel." Rukia says honestly, and Nanao laughs.

"Of course you do…maybe that's why I felt comfortable sharing it with you. I do feel sorry for you though, that you didn't finalize the deal before tonight. You know that we will not go easy on you, but it's only because we treasure you so much." Nanao says, before she goes to collect her drink.

Nanao smiles as she sees Ichigo take a drink of what Rangiku made, and she snags the next glass Rangiku holds out.

"I say we play a drinking game!" Rangiku calls out, and the women all start to cheer.

"What game should we play?" Yachiru calls out as she whips out a pack of plastic cups from her robes.

"That's great! I didn't think anybody would remember to bring those! We haven't played Tip Cup in at least five years!" Soi Fong smiles.

"I bought them once we were here so that they can be seen!" Yachiru says, even though nobody has noticed them yet.

"I like it because the humans always get freaked out." Nemu says in a quiet voice, and Yachiru laughs.

"That is funny! Everyone bring your drinks to the counter! Half of us on one side of the bar, half of us on the other!" Rangiku calls out, and all of the women begin to line up in between the customers while Yachiru throws a cup to each woman.

Suddenly the customers start to get freaked out as the women and Ichigo all pour a bit of their drink into the plastic cups.

"Just enough for a shot, Ichigo." Rukia says, as she picks up the plastic cup and pours some back in his drink. She gets a whiff of it and looks at him in horror, even though she can't say anything with the other women present.

_Why is he drinking Kamikaze?!_

"Does everyone know how to play?" Kiyone calls out, and Ichigo shakes his head no.

"It's a relay race! We'll start at one end on both sides! You drink what's in the cup, and then you set it on the edge of the bar. You have to try to flip it so the cup lands lip side down! Once that happens, the next person goes! The team that finishes first is the winner!" Rangiku says, and Yoruichi laughs at Ichigo.

"You're up against me!" She tells him, and Ichigo nods, even as Rukia watches nervously.

_With this game…his drink will be gone so fast!_

"Ready?" Nanao yells, and Yoruichi nods her head at the same time as Ichigo.

"Remember you don't touch the cup until I yell start, and the next person can't touch their cup until the previous team member has successfully flipped theirs!" Rangiku says, and the players all nod.

"Set! Go!" Nanao yells, causing Ichigo and Yoruichi to grab their cups and down their drinks.

"Demons! Demons are here!" A drunken man screams as the cups start to move, as if of their own volition.

"How rude!" Soi Fong mutters as she considers smiting the man based just on principle.

Ichigo doesn't know _why_, but he really wants his team to win. The problem is, he sucks at flipping the cup. Yoruichi has it on her second try, and Rangiku starts her turn. She flips her cup at the same time as Ichigo, so Rukia takes her turn at the same time as Soi Fong, who seems depressed that she didn't wind up next to Yoruichi.

They continue down the line, and Ichigo feels a great sense of disappointment when his team loses…he feels like it's his fault.

"Okay next time we start with Kuchiki and Rangiku-san!" Nanao says, and Yoruichi laughs at Ichigo.

"If your side makes it to you this time, you better hope you don't lose to me!" She says, and Ichigo scowls.

"I already have this mastered!" Ichigo argues, and the women all laugh at him.

"Sure you do…" Yoruichi says sarcastically, and Ichigo splashes some of his drink into the plastic cup.

"Ready?" Nanao asks, and Rukia nods.

"Set, go!" Yoruichi calls out, while Rukia and Rangiku both hurry to get started.

Rukia flips her cup on the first try, and Ichigo cheers along with the other women on her team, and even puts his hand on her shoulder.

"Nice one, Rukia!" He says with a smile, and she laughs.

"You really want to win, don't you?" She asks, and he nearly chuckles.

"I don't even know why I feel that way." He says, and then they hear more cheering as Rangiku finally flips her cup, but her team is now two behind.

"We might be able to win this round if nobody has too much trouble." Rukia says, and Ichigo nods as they look to see where they're at.

It's under a minute when the entire group looks at Ichigo.

"Go, go!" The women all cheer as the game goes on. He wins for his team, and feels very proud that he was able to complete flipping his cup before Yoruichi even got a chance to drink that round's shot of alcohol.

"It's almost New Years! Icchy! Rukia! Are you going to kiss at midnight?" Yachiru asks, and Rukia goes white as Ichigo goes red.

"What!?" Ichigo sputters and Yoruichi laughs.

"It's a tradition in some places…you two should do it!" Yoruichi says, and Ichigo looks at Rukia.

He doesn't know if it's the alcohol or the way she's looking at him, but kissing Rukia seems like the best suggestion he's heard all night…even better than the drinking game.

"Yeah!" The women all begin cheering, and Ichigo does feel pressure, but he also has the desire to do it as well.

"Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Happy New Year!" The women all start to scream in celebration as Ichigo leans down and presses a kiss against Rukia's lips.

"Happy New Year, Rukia." Ichigo's voice is soft…but deep.

That's the last clear memory she has, besides playing Tip Cup with Ichigo and the League of Women Shinigami.

* * *

"My whole body hurts." Rukia mumbles, and she doesn't even want to open her eyes.

_Why does my chest feel so heavy?_

She realizes a moment later why that is, because she suddenly feels her chest lighten up, and then she can feel Ichigo panicking…she can also feel air on her bare breasts, which of course forces her to open her eyes.

Ichigo reacts before she realizes that her robes have been completely stripped off, along with his own. He grabs the blanket on the bed, covers them, and then looks around.

"Where in the hell are we?" He asks nervously, and Rukia is unable to speak for a full minute.

"Do you remember anything?" She asks him desperately, and he frowns.

"Not much…" He trails off and turns red, because no matter how much he'd like to blame the League of Women Shinigami for his and Rukia's condition, he feels fully responsible…because he is sure he's the one who removed their robes.

"Well…this certainly is an interesting way to start 2009." Rukia says with a sigh, and Ichigo smiles.

"Are you two awake!?" They hear Rangiku singing triumphantly on the other side of the door, and the pair both feel embarrassed as hell.

"What in the hell happened last night!?" Rukia yells, and Rangiku laughs.

"We thought we should get you two to a room before you got it on in front of all of us!" Rangiku calls through the door and they both blush.

"Don't lie!" Rukia yells, and Rangiku laughs.

"Don't worry, there's video!" Rangiku sings, and Rukia shakes her head.

"Video?" Rukia asks in panic, and Rangiku laughs.

"It's pretty explicit!" She sings out, and Rukia puts her face in her hands.

"What a horrible start to the new year…" Rukia sounds like she's really depressed, so Ichigo grabs her hand.

"It wasn't bad for me at all…besides the annoying Shinigami screaming at us while we're in this room." Ichigo says in a low and quiet voice.

"Really?" Rukia asks, and she's answered with a kiss.

"I want to start every New Year's Eve with you and be with you all night long…not just New Year's Eve though…" Ichigo trails off, wondering if he's still drunk from last night and Rukia gawks at him.

She stands up to get dressed, and sees blood on the bed sheet. It wasn't her time of the month either…

"Well there's another piece of good news for you…when your father asks, you can tell him you're finally a man." Rukia says, and Ichigo blushes.

"I…I….sorry." He hangs his head and Rukia narrows her eyes at him.

"You remember don't you?" She asks, and he nods his head.

"But I'm glad you don't…I hurt you." He mutters, and Rukia blinks.

_I remember feeling a strange new pain…wait…I remember!_

Ichigo watches her face go red, and he realizes she remembers.

"I want to know how you're going to make this up to me!" She snaps, and Ichigo grabs her hand.

"I'll ask you to marry me if you'll say yes." He tells her, and Rukia has never felt her heart snatched more fiercely than what it is in this moment.

"I'm beginning to think this is a great start to the year…" She tells him with a smile, and Ichigo nods his head.

_I'm glad we both feel the same way…_

* * *

The League of Women Shinigami are ecstatic that they have an ally in Kurosaki Ichigo, who gave them his undying allegiance in exchange for the video they had on them.

Upon arriving home, Isshin is ecstatic, because he sees the change in his son without even having to ask the embarrassing question…but he does bawl to Masaki that Ichigo and Rukia have already made this year a happy one.

"Our son is in love! Masaki!" Isshin's drama is enough to embarrass his son who drags Rukia up to his room, so that he can be ecstatic that everything has changed for the better, between the two of them.

"I want to make every year better than the last." Ichigo whispers, before he kisses Rukia.

"We can do it." Rukia says in a strong voice after the kiss, and Ichigo nods.

_Happy New Year…the start of the happiest years of my life with Rukia._

**A/N-Kyokudo Bomu means Extreme Bomb.**


	3. Happy Birthday, Rukia

_**A/N-Rukia's exact age has never been disclosed, but at least we know the day January 14th. She did tell Ichigo she was nearly ten times his age though, upon meeting him. I decided to make her one hundred and fifty for this one. Please enjoy! **_

_Happy Birthday, Rukia_

"What do I want for my birthday, huh?" Rukia says out loud, before she sighs.

_I'm talking to myself again…I think it's because I'll have lived for a century and a half without even having my first boyfriend, or even a real first kiss._

Rukia sighs again, and narrows her eyes with determination. She doesn't count the innocent kisses she experienced infrequently during her childhood, she's thinking of a kiss between two people who have romantic feelings for one another.

_It's okay that I've never had that, because I've experienced some wonderful things that others never get to experience in their whole life._

Whenever she reminds herself of that fact, she always imagines Ichigo in Soul Society, when he came to save her. She always feels her cheeks get a bit warm when she remembers how he landed on the bridge in front of her and bowed like a hero.

_Hmmm…Ichigo bowing to me again, might be a nice gift._

Her mind then goes to his next save, when she was ready to be obliterated by the Soukyoku. She had been filled with so much raw emotion when she'd realized he was there to save her, but really she at the time had believed he would simply die with her.

_I know I said I didn't have any regrets…and back then maybe I didn't…but if I died now, I'd have plenty._

Rukia can't stop sighing. She hasn't told anybody in the Kurosaki family that it's her birthday, because she's always dreaded being asked what year. To humans, her true age would just be mind boggling. She had considered telling Ichigo that her birthday was coming up, but then she envisioned him forgetting, or worse yet, not doing anything for her special day. She can completely see him not making a big deal out of a birthday. Plus, she tries not to constantly remind him that she's a hell of a lot older than him.

_One time of telling him was enough. Back then I didn't even give a rat's ass what he thought of me, because he pissed me off. Now though…_

Rukia is thankful for the darkness of Ichigo's closet. In his closet, she really feels like she thinks better. There's nothing to distract her when she's closed up in the little space that's so near to where Ichigo sleeps.

She hasn't heard any noise coming from beyond the closet door in quite some time either. She can feel Ichigo's reiatsu though, and she grows curious about what he might be doing.

_Maybe I should have told him it was my birthday…now I'm beginning to feel depressed…_

Her phone ringing breaks into her thoughts, and she quickly picks it up.

"Hello?" Rukia asks quietly into the receiver, in case Ichigo is sleeping.

"Rukia, I called to wish you a happy birthday. I just sent Renji to have his reiatsu sealed since he has a gift for you." Byakuya's voice makes Rukia smile.

"Thank you, ni-sama." Rukia says, and her brother clears his throat.

"I'm also sending him with a gift for you, from me." Byakuya says quietly, and Rukia's eyes widen since this will be the first time he's acknowledged her birthday beyond just wishing her a happy birthday.

"Really? Thank you, ni-sama!" Rukia says excitedly, and Byakuya is quiet for a moment before he speaks again.

"I owe you an apology…I haven't exactly been the best brother to you since you were adopted into the Kuchiki household." Byakuya's voice sounds a bit strange, and Rukia realizes that this must be a difficult realization for him.

"That's not true. Since I became a Kuchiki, I have lived a very privileged life, and I appreciate that more than you know." Rukia tells him, as she remembers times where she fainted from hunger, when she was a poor orphan in Rukongai.

"Well things are going to be different…" Byakuya tells her on the phone, and Rukia smiles.

"Thanks again, ni-sama." Rukia says softly, and Byakuya seems uncertain of himself for once.

"Okay then…we'll talk soon. Bye Rukia."

"Bye ni-sama." She presses end, and sets her phone back down.

_I guess I'd better get a nicer dress on, if Renji is going to have a gift for me…I hope Ichigo isn't pissed off that I didn't tell him about my birthday._

* * *

Ichigo is still a little bit annoyed that Rukia never told him for herself that her birthday was coming up, thank goodness Renji mentioned something when Ichigo wished him a Merry Christmas on the phone last month.

_Why didn't she tell me?_

Ichigo informed his father, who rented a party room for after seven o'clock in the evening, and now that it's getting dark, he has to get dressed, but Rukia hasn't stepped foot out of the closet since lunch time. It's been a quiet day with no hollows, and he actually misses seeing her smiling face.

_She's not depressed because she's another year older is she? It's not like she looks old or anything. _

It's a bit of a concern to him, because he really wants to celebrate Rukia's birthday, he doesn't want her mad that he wants to celebrate it, especially since it's a surprise birthday party. He hopes she'll be happy rather than mad, but if she is mad, he hopes he can turn it around quickly…he wonders if telling her he rejects her opinions would do the trick.

For once he's glad that his father is nosy, because he got some new clothes for the party. Nothing fancy, but he'll at least look nice. He leaves his room, to head for his father's bedroom.

_I hope the hollows stay away until tomorrow…_

He grabs his clothes out of his father's closet, since he hadn't wanted Rukia to see them and ask why he got a new outfit. Luckily his dad isn't in the room when he goes inside, but Ichigo can hear his father laughing obnoxiously in the kitchen.

Renji should be at the house soon, and Ichigo worries about the gift he got for Rukia. He searched everywhere for a rabbit pendant, but the only ones he could find, were too cheap for his liking. He could tell they'd break within a week. He had begrudgingly admitted defeat two days ago, after spending a couple of weeks hunting for a damned rabbit necklace, and he settled on something else that he feels suits Rukia perfectly.

_I already know there's going to be gossip because I'm giving her jewelry, but it's her birthday, and I wanted to do something nice for her…maybe I'll wait and give it to her when we're alone…and tell her organizing the party was my present…but if I do that, when I do give it to her, it may make the moment really awkward…_

Ichigo is unable to get a hold on his nerves…he knows he got her the right gift, but he's sweating with nervousness at the idea of giving the gift to her…all he can do is hope for the best while still feeling his heart race from his anxiousness.

* * *

When Rukia hops out of the closet, she's in a comfortable and casual dress. It's one she wears often, where the top half looks more like a tee-shirt with a V neck, but it's actually a dress that goes just above her knees.

Ichigo's father has amazing timing, because he barges into Ichigo's room within two seconds of her exiting the closet, and he's holding something…skimpy…and pink.

"Rukia-chan! We're going to do something special tonight, so why don't you wear this?" Isshin asks, and Rukia feels a bit lightheaded as she eyes the item in his hand a little bit more carefully.

"It's pink." Rukia says, trying not to grimace, and Isshin smiles at her.

"I think dark pink will bring out the blue in your eyes…just humor me for the night. You never have to wear it again if you don't like it." Isshin says, and Rukia really doesn't want to wear it, nor does she want to insult the man who has so graciously offered his home to her.

"Okay…" Rukia says, and Isshin smiles and hands her the dress.

"Great! Can you be ready in a half hour?" Isshin asks, and Rukia blinks a couple of times.

"It will only take me fifteen minutes to get ready."

"Great Rukia-chan! Come downstairs when you're ready, and I'll go start the car so it's warm when we leave!" Isshin says, and then he bows out of the room, while Rukia eyes the dark pink dress in her possession.

"This looks…revealing." Rukia says in a low voice, and she wonders why she has to dress like this on her own birthday.

It ties around her neck, and bares her back completely, and it comes up above her mid-thigh but it hugs her legs. The chest is skimpy too, and it gives her the appearance of having a bit of a larger chest, it looks like she had dark pink shells over her breasts, and there's a couple of tiny holes surrounded by a silver ring over the tummy area down the front, making her feel completely exposed.

_This is embarrassing…wait! Renji is coming here! I should have told Ichigo's father!_

Rukia bites her lip, as she considers what Renji's reaction might be when he sees her in the scandalous dress, and she's ready to get back into the blue one, when Yuzu bursts into the room. Rukia tries not to cover herself up, but she really wants to, even as Yuzu holds up a dark pink ribbon.

"Rukia-chan! Let me do your hair!" Yuzu says, and then she hears Renji's voice coming from downstairs.

"I can't! I made plans with my old friend Renji…I should change back." Rukia says, and Yuzu laughs.

"Karin-chan already invited him along too. We have a bit of time, and I'm already ready, so let me do your hair, please?" Yuzu begs with puppy dog eyes, and Rukia sighs before she relents.

Rukia suddenly realizes that Yuzu is wearing a dress she hasn't seen before, and Rukia would know since she's raided the girl's closet on more than one occasion.

_I wonder if something else is special about today…I know I didn't tell them about my birthday…wait…Renji will probably say something! He has gifts! Shit!_

"Hang on a minute!" Rukia yelps, and then she dashes downstairs, completely forgetting the revealing nature of her dress.

"Rukia-chan?" Yuzu squeaks, as Rukia nimbly gets her ass down the stairs to try to keep Renji from spilling the beans, but when she darts into their sight, they both blink a few times at her, and look at her with identical stunned expressions of appreciation.

"Renji!" Rukia gasps, and Ichigo frowns at that.

"Rukia…what are you wearing?" Renji asks, feeling like his throat is tight.

Rukia's face goes white as she realizes they're both staring at her, and not her face.

"I'm up here…up here!" Rukia snaps at them both and they both have the good grace to look embarrassed even as Ichigo looks a bit annoyed that Renji's reaction is so similar to his own.

"Did you need something?" Renji asks, since he remembers she called out his name, and Rukia bobs her head up and down, even as she sees the bag hanging from his hands.

"Oh is that what my brother sent? Let me take it now." Rukia says frantically, but Renji holds the bag above his head.

"No! You have to wait to get your birthday presents!" Renji practically yells, and Rukia feels like her entire spirit has been yanked from her.

She can't even look at Ichigo, she's so mortified. Instead, she looks away.

"Yuzu is waiting for me…" Rukia hurries away, and Ichigo crosses his arms to glare at her back.

_Yeah you better feel bad you didn't tell me…_

* * *

Rukia feels really badly that she didn't tell Ichigo now, and she's been afraid to look him in the eyes since Renji opened his big fat mouth up and announced it was her birthday.

The car ride was lively enough to compensate for her lack of energy, but it was Isshin, Yuzu, and Karin making all the racket, while Ichigo and Rukia stay quiet in the back seat with Renji joining in the chatter once in awhile. Luckily it didn't last too long, only fifteen minutes.

Rukia still feels really exposed in the dress. Isshin had some shoes by the door to match her dress perfectly too, and apparently Ichigo shoveled the walkway so that Rukia's new shoes wouldn't get ruined before they even reached their destination.

All that managed to do was make Rukia feel worse, about keeping her birthday a secret, and she's too busy paying attention to the ground, as they approach the door to the party center, and she doesn't realize that they're about to enter her own birthday celebration, but she does notice that both Ichigo and Renji are kicking snow out of her path in front of her, and she grins a little bit.

_He can't be too mad if he's like that…_

They walk inside the party center, and down a hallway, and when they come to the correct door, somehow Rukia ends up in front of it, though she's not sure how.

"Go on, Rukia-chan, that's the right door." Isshin says, and Rukia pushes it open.

"Happy birthday!" Rukia nearly loses her balance from the shock that so many friends have gathered to celebrate the birthday she thought she'd kept secret.

Then she realizes that everyone is gaping at her in shock too, as they take in the skimpy dark pink dress that Isshin gave to her to wear, and she holds her breath, even as Yuzu and Karin squeeze around her.

Rukia looks around and sees all familiar faces. Most of their classmates at school have come, along with Yoruichi, Urahara, Jinta, and Ururu. Then she spots Hanatarou in a gigai, smiling and waving at her as he leans self-consciously against the wall.

"You all…knew?" Rukia finally asks, and Ichigo steps next to her.

"Yeah we knew. I can't believe you were going to let your birthday pass by without even saying a word to the family." Ichigo says, in a low voice, and Rukia smiles up at him.

"Thank you very much." She tells him humbly, and he looks away because he doesn't want to start letting his eyes wander around her body in front of everyone.

"Of course, it's your birthday, idiot." Ichigo mutters, and Rukia smiles even more widely.

"Thank you so much, everyone!" Rukia says, bowing her head to everyone, but there are so many eyes looking her up and down, that Rukia feels like she's naked on display.

"Come on," Ichigo says, and he proceeds to walk towards the group, with Rukia at his side.

"Wow Kuchiki-san!" Mizuiro's eyes show his appreciation as he gives her the once over for the fifth time.

"You look beautiful…no magnificent…you're looking very lovely!" Keigo agrees excitedly, and Ichigo starts to feel a bit annoyed that his friends are ogling Rukia so openly.

"You two look good together!" The voice of their teacher makes Rukia's eyes go wide.

"Even sensei came?" Rukia breathes in shock, and Ichigo nods.

"Everyone wanted to celebrate your birthday, you shouldn't keep it a secret." He tells her, and then Tatsuki asks the wrong question.

"How old are you today, Kuchiki-san?" Tatsuki shouts, and Ichigo realizes why Rukia maybe didn't want her birthday to be so public with that question.

"Sixteen!" Rukia lies easily, while those who know the truth try to smother their laughter.

"Karaoke! I'm starting!" Isshin's voice can be heard easily over everyone else, but with him getting right into it, the party smoothly transitions from the welcome to the actual partying.

Isshin is funny when he sings, and he actually isn't half bad, and Rukia enjoys listening to him…but when he's done, he starts calling for Rukia to sing.

"Can you sing, Rukia?" Ichigo asks her suddenly, and she's shaking her head no.

"Why should I have to sing!?" Rukia asks, but then suddenly Isshin dashes forward and captures her by the arm, dragging her towards the microphone.

"Because you are the birthday girl!" Isshin says, as though she should have already known the answer to the question.

Ichigo half expects Rukia to sound like some sort of diva as she steps up to the microphone and picks what song she wants to do. She doesn't have the most beautiful singing voice that everyone has ever heard, but she's definitely not a bad singer either. She's in tune, and Ichigo enjoys listening to her, which makes him wonder if it's because he likes her singing or if it's because he likes her.

The karaoke continues for close to an hour and suddenly the door opens, with a young man wheeling in a rather large cake, and punch. Ichigo glares at his father when he sees strawberries are all over the top of the cake, and several people laugh.

Rukia's eyes get all sparkly when she sees the cake though, and she of course wants a piece with a strawberry on it, which makes everyone except Ichigo and Inoue laugh, Ichigo because he's embarrassed, and Inoue because she can sense so clearly that she'll never reach Kuchiki-san's level.

_She's too far ahead…I can never catch up when she's already got the biggest place in his heart._

Not only does the cake look good but it tastes good too, and Rukia loves it, and is pleased no piece of cake ends up on the dress, to call more attention to everything she has exposed wearing what feels like practically nothing.

After the cake, Isshin happily yells for presents, and Rukia begins to open up gift after gift. All of the girls in class got Rukia something rabbit related. Rabbit socks, rabbit tee-shirt, rabbit hairclips, rabbit pajamas, a poster with rabbits on it, and a rabbit charm bracelet.

The boys gifts were more diversified, but Ichigo finds himself immensely relieved that he'd been unable to find any rabbit pendants, otherwise his gift would be like the girls gifts had been. Renji got her some of her favorite candy from Soul Society, and Rukia's eyes lit up at the sight of it, since she hadn't expected to see any of it now.

The worst part though, is that when Rukia gets to the end of the gifts, she looks at him all expectantly, like she can't understand why she didn't receive a gift from him.

Luckily for him, Rukia doesn't actually say anything, for fear whatever his answer might be, that it'll be embarrassing. Isshin gets the karaoke going again, and Rukia helps herself to some more cake.

_What a nice party…Ichigo does such nice things for me._

She notices that Ichigo is never very far from her, and he's pretty much at her side for the entire party. She somehow manages to miss the threatening glares he keeps giving the men in the room whenever they look a bit too long at the exposed skin as a result of his father getting her such a tight fitting and revealing dress.

Isshin of course is loving it. He wanted to get Rukia-chan in something sexy so that his son wouldn't leave her side for anything but a good reason. He is pleased his plan has worked out so well.

"Isshin-san is so smart." Urahara says with a chuckle, and Isshin laughs at him.

"You already knew that though, didn't you?" Isshin asks with a wink, and Yoruichi laughs.

"Poor Ichigo…he can hardly stand being next to her when she looks like that. He looks like he's in pain." Yoruichi's observation makes Isshin laugh.

"I'm hoping it will push him to make her birthday extra special."

* * *

They're finally back at home, and Rukia finally has Ichigo in private.

"Why didn't you get me anything?" She demands, and Ichigo forces himself to keep a straight face.

"Are you forgetting I arranged for that party?" Ichigo asks with a raised eyebrow, and Rukia crosses her arms.

"You definitely had help."

"Well…what do you want for your birthday?" Ichigo asks, curious to see what she still wants.

"Well…" Rukia trails off.

"Tell me. If I can, I'll give it to you." Ichigo coaxes her, and Rukia looks away from him.

"Well…I really liked it when you bowed to me in Soul Society, when you landed on the bridge…and I was wondering if you could do it again, without walking away from me immediately after." Rukia tells him, and Ichigo looks shocked.

_Of all the things she wanted, and this was it? _

Ichigo immediately bows to her, and then pulls a long box out of a side pocket on his pants.

"Happy birthday Rukia." Ichigo says and Rukia's mouth falls open.

"You did get me something!"

"Yeah." Ichigo can feel his cheeks heat up as Rukia takes the box and opens it.

When she sees a silver necklace with a silver snowflake pendant, she gasps happily.

"Wow…Ichigo…thank you!" Rukia throws herself in his arms, and he hugs her, before letting his lips land on the top of her head.

"You're welcome." Ichigo says, enjoying the feel of her in his arms until she pulls away.

"I'll cherish it always." Rukia tells him, and Ichigo blushes again.

"Oh." Ichigo says, and then she grins at him.

"I guess I'll have to make sure I get you chocolates next month." Rukia says, before she walks into the closet and flashes him a smile.

Ichigo just blushes with an openmouthed expression.

_Obligatory, or home made?_

**A/N-I hope you liked it even if I was a few minutes past Jan 14th when I posted this one. I wrote it during Rukia's birthday though. I'm sure it was on time for some of you though!**


	4. My Strawberry Valentine

_**A/N-This is a continuation from the previous chapter I wrote for Rukia's birthday, please enjoy!**_

_My Strawberry Valentine_

Rukia really regrets that making sweets isn't her strong point. She is really talented when it comes to grilling or cooking over a simple fire due to her rough childhood, but her experience was sorely lacking when it came to knowledge on how to make really good homemade chocolates for a Valentine's Day present.

She had completely failed. She hadn't wanted to ask anybody's help, or accepted any offers to make chocolates with Inoue, because she didn't want Ichigo to be aware of her failing ability to make chocolates…and when the day before Valentine's Day came, she still didn't have any clue what she was going to do, until she came across a brilliant idea.

Rukia spent the evening in a dessert shop in her Shinigami form in the neighboring town to get some insight on what she might be doing wrong. Yuzu seems to be aware that Rukia has been experimenting with her ability to make sweets late at night, but has been kind enough not to remark upon it.

Finally, after "borrowing" a secret recipe from the dessert shop she peeked in on, she manages to make something she thinks is really spectacular. A small chocolate cake with strawberries outlining the top of it. The batter had tasted wonderful, so Rukia has confidence that the final product also tastes great. At least she hopes so. She puts the cake on a pretty plate, and then covers it before taking it to Ichigo's bedroom. She sets it on the dresser, with a little note that she had made a full week earlier.

_For My Strawberry Valentine_

There are little drawings of her trademark rabbits and hearts on the note, and she wants Ichigo to see it first thing in the morning. She stumbles her way to the closet, and passes out until she's suddenly woken up by a huge crash.

"Good morning, Ichigo!" Isshin has crashed into the room as is his usual routine. Rukia hears a second crashing sound immediately after she opens her eyes.

"Get out of my room!" Ichigo is practically screaming, and Isshin is gasping for air.

"Ichigo! You came so close to kicking me right into this lovely Valentine's Day gift that was left here for you!" Isshin yells, and Rukia feels her face heat up.

"What?" Ichigo sounds shocked, but then she hears the sound of him jumping out of bed.

"Oh how cute!" Isshin says with a teasing tone, and she hears Isshin grunt from being hit.

"Give that to me!"

"You're going to ruin it!" Isshin yells, with the pain evident in his tone.

"You're the one who's got your sticky hands all over my present!" Ichigo yells before Rukia hears one final crash.

Then she hears the footsteps come over to the closet and stop. Ichigo decides to slide open the door without a warning, and when he does, he sees Rukia sitting on her shelf staring at him wide eyed.

"It's never a boring morning around here, is it?" Rukia asks, and Ichigo just gives her a goofy look while holding his cake.

"Thanks for the present Rukia." Ichigo looks more serious than he typically does first thing in the morning so Rukia grins at him.

"It's the least I could do after you arranged such a fun birthday party." Rukia says, and Ichigo smiles at her.

"Your Strawberry Valentine, eh?" Ichigo asks, but the conversation is cut when he hears Karin screaming his name, but what she yells after is what really bothers him.

"Orihime-chan is here to see you!"

"Inoue is here? What is she doing here?" Ichigo asks, and Rukia shrugs.

"Maybe she has a Valentine's Day gift for you." Rukia says, and Ichigo gawks at her for a second before he responds.

"Why would she?" Ichigo asks, and Rukia raises an eyebrow causing him to curse under his breath and head down the stairs with as much enthusiasm as one might walk a plank.

Rukia stays upstairs just incase her guess is right, and she doesn't really want to see Ichigo receive a Valentine's Day gift from any other girl. The realization of this fact is a bit startling to her too. She walks over to his bed and sinks down into it.

"I'm in deep."

Meanwhile, downstairs, Ichigo is looking at Inoue who is holding out a small bag.

"This is obligatory chocolate right?" Ichigo asks, hoping fiercely that it is, but Inoue blushes bright red.

"No…Kurosaki-kun…" She can't seem to say anymore than that. If it isn't obligatory then it can only be one other kind.

"Sorry Inoue…I can't accept it." Ichigo says, feeling bad since she looks so hurt by his words.

"But…I spent all night working on it!" Inoue says, and that causes Ichigo to imagine what kind of warped candy might even be in the bag she's presenting him.

_Even if I did want to accept it, there is no way I'd be able to eat it…_

"I can't accept them because I don't want to lead you on." Ichigo says firmly, and Inoue's eye twitches.

"Did Kuchiki-san…" Inoue trails off but it's obvious she wants to know if Rukia gave Ichigo anything for Valentine's Day.

"Yes…Rukia made me a chocolate cake." Ichigo admits honestly, and Inoue takes a deep breath.

"She did?" Inoue asks, shocked since her friend hadn't said anything about it to her, even when she'd asked if Rukia wanted to make candy with her.

"She did…and I accepted it." Ichigo tells Inoue, with his tone doing more explaining than his words themselves.

"Oh…"

"And I can only accept those kinds of feelings from one girl. I wouldn't want to hurt Rukia's feelings by accepting anything that's not only obligatory from any other girl." Ichigo says, feeling better with each word he speaks.

Inoue nods her head feeling really numb as she stares at the object of her desires. She had always thought she would lose to Kuchiki-san, but now that she's staring it in the face she just doesn't want to accept it.

"But…I did make them for you. Please take them so that I don't have to leave here still holding them." Inoue begs, and Ichigo shakes his head again.

"Why don't you give them to Sado or Ishida? I'm sure one of them would be really happy to receive them. I can't take them." Ichigo says before he simply turns his back on her and heads back up the stairs.

_She'll find her way out…_

Inoue's mouth drops open at his rude dismissal of her, particularly since she hadn't expected him to be so cold after risking his neck to save her in the past. She turns bright red as she is still standing in the Kurosaki residence, so she turns to the door, slips back into her shoes, and runs out.

* * *

Rukia feels a lot of relief when Ichigo returns without any additional Valentine's Day gift in his hands.

"Ichigo?" Rukia asks, but his eyes land on the cake she made for him.

"Want to eat it together?" He asks her suddenly and Rukia feels her face get a bit warm.

"Together?" She utters, and Ichigo smirks at her.

"Afraid to eat your own cake?" He asks, and Rukia jumps to her feet.

"You idiot! Are you saying the only reason you offered was because you wanted to see if I was brave enough to eat my own cooking!?" She's so mad and she pulls back to punch him causing Ichigo's eyes to widen in shock.

"No! Rukia, I thought it would be romantic! I was just teasing you!" Rukia's fist stops just a millimeter in front of his right eye, and she looks very embarrassed by what he just said.

"Romantic?" Her eyes narrow at him. "Are you teasing me again?" She demands, and Ichigo takes a quick step back in case she decides to still push her fist forward.

_Even at close range she could be dangerous…_

"No I'm not teasing you now." Ichigo says hastily, and she drops her arm to her side looking a bit confused.

"You want me to feed it to you?" She asks, still looking like she's unsure of how to share a small cake.

"I do now." Ichigo says, nodding his head in appreciation of her idea.

"Ichigo!" A female voice makes both Ichigo and Rukia lose their train of thought.

The near romantic moment is completely spoiled when Neliel in adult form comes flying through the window. She goes straight into Ichigo's arms and begins to hug the life out of him.

"Nel!? What are you doing here?!" Ichigo manages to ask even though she's making it difficult to breathe.

"It's Valentine's Day! I'm here to see you!" Nel's announcement makes Rukia's eyes go wide and then the green haired Arrancar finally releases Ichigo and yanks out a shiny box from behind her back.

"You…" Ichigo is flabbergasted.

"I got you chocolate!" Nel says proudly, and Ichigo nearly groans.

"Is it obligatory?" He asks, and Nel frowns at him.

"Of course not! A girl in love does not give obligatory chocolate!" Nel spits out at him, and Ichigo gives her a regretful look.

"I'm sorry Nel…but I can't accept them. I've already accepted Rukia's gift, and I can only accept one of that nature." Ichigo tells her, and Nel doesn't like that at all.

Before Ichigo can stop her, she's torn open the box and is shoving chocolates down his throat while pinching his nose with her free hand.

"Accept my feelings! Eat it! Isn't it good Ichigo!?" Nel asks, and Rukia puts her hand over her mouth.

"Ichigo…" Rukia isn't getting involved in this. She knows Ichigo will handle it in his own idiotic way.

Ichigo can't really think straight at the moment despite Rukia's beliefs in him, because he's beginning to choke from Nel's brutal treatment. In the middle of gagging he realizes dealing with this will be more difficult than dealing with Inoue.

Nel finally stops when she realizes he's about to throw up and she jumps away from him.

"You're so mean, idiot Ichigo!" Nel shouts, with tears welling up in her eyes.

Somehow Ichigo manages to keep from spewing all over the bedroom floor, but his throat feels tight as he starts to talk.

"I'm sorry Nel, I don't mean to be mean to you. I do like you, but only as a friend." Ichigo tells her, but then the bottom of Nel's foot connects with his jaw knocking him flat onto his bedroom floor.

"You're impotent aren't you!?" Nel demands and Ichigo jumps to his feet even if he is feeling a bit dazed.

"I am not impotent!" Ichigo shouts, and Rukia sighs in aggravation.

_This is getting absurd…_

"Idiot!" Nel shrieks again before disappearing the same way she came, and Ichigo scowls after her.

"That crazy bitch…" Ichigo says, and Rukia shakes her head at him.

"I guess you aren't in the mood to eat now, huh?" She asks him, and Ichigo looks a bit green at the suggestion.

"Maybe a bit later." Ichigo says, and Rukia nods.

Either way, she's really happy that Ichigo has refused to accept chocolates from any other girl, because it means he knows she was serious about it when she decided to give him the gift.

"Sure thing." Rukia says, before she grabs the back of his head and pulls it down to her level.

Ichigo's eyes widen as Rukia places a kiss as light as a butterfly on his left cheek and then she lets go to go take a shower. Ichigo touches his cheek where she kissed him, and he doesn't move for a good two minutes until after she's disappeared.

Ichigo is sure his troubles have ended now that he's turned down both Nel and Inoue's chocolates, but he hadn't counted on six more girls from his class showing up throughout the course of the day to give him chocolates.

When Tatsuki shows up, Ichigo throws his arms into the air.

"Tatsuki…please don't tell me you're here to give me chocolate…" Ichigo says, and Tatsuki's eyes narrow at him.

"Of course not Ichigo! I'm here because you made Orihime cry! I think you're aware of what I do to people who make her cry! I have had her crying in my room for hours I hope you know!" Tatsuki says, and Ichigo holds up his hands.

"I didn't make her cry on purpose! I simply told her that if her chocolates weren't obligatory I couldn't accept them since I accepted Rukia's cake!" Ichigo explains, and Tatsuki bites her lip.

"It's true that you aren't exactly wrong here, but why did you have to be so mean to her?! You didn't even say goodbye, you just turned and walked away from her!" Tatsuki says with her fists balled up, and Ichigo shrugs at his friend.

"I probably could have handled it better, but I honestly was just trying to do the right thing." Ichigo says, and he's surprised when Tatsuki's fist pounds into his stomach causing him to double over in pain.

"Sorry Ichigo…I could have probably handled that better but I was just trying to do the right thing." Tatsuki says, and Ichigo glares at his friend.

"How was hitting me the right thing?" Ichigo demands, and Tatsuki crosses her arms.

"Don't tell me you didn't know! Anybody who makes Orihime cry gets their ass kicked by me!" Tatsuki says, and Ichigo rolls his eyes.

"Girls are insane on Valentines Day." Ichigo grumbles, thinking that Rukia is the only exception to that rule.

"Don't forget you owe Orihime an apology!" Tatsuki says, and Ichigo has had enough.

"I don't owe her a damn thing. She needs to get over it and so do you." Ichigo says unwisely, and Tatsuki's fist flies towards his face.

Ichigo is really shocked though when Tatsuki's fist doesn't land. Rukia has appeared and her hand has caught Tatsuki's fist before it could reach Ichigo's face.

"Ichigo, didn't you agree that we were going to eat the cake together?" Rukia asks, while keeping her eyes on Tatsuki, who looks shocked that Rukia was able to stop her in mid-punch.

"Yeah…" Ichigo says, and Rukia addresses Tatsuki next.

"I was really happy that Ichigo didn't accept any gifts from any other girls, and I don't think it's right for him to be hit for making that decision." Rukia says in a firm voice and Tatsuki's eyes widen.

"Kuchiki-san…"

"If you must fight someone, then your opponent is me." Rukia says, and Tatsuki pulls her hand away.

"Nah…I guess it was kind of nice of him to be so considerate of you." Tatsuki says slowly, and Rukia beams at her.

"Wasn't it?" Rukia asks, and Tatsuki gives Ichigo a look.

"I'm going to tell Orihime you apologized for your rude treatment to her, and I'll explain how serious you and Kuchiki-san have become." Tatsuki says, before leaving the couple to themselves.

"Thank goodness she's gone." Ichigo says quietly, and Rukia laughs at him.

"Are you finally ready for some cake?" Rukia asks, and Ichigo smirks at her.

"Yeah, come on." He tells her, before he grabs a spoon from the kitchen and hurries up to his room with Rukia.

He grabs the cake off his dresser, and heads over to his bed. Rukia walks over next to him, but he grabs her by the waist and pulls her into his lap.

"Ichigo?" Rukia says with a bright red face, but Ichigo just tightens his hold on her.

"This is how we're going to share." Ichigo tells her, before he unwraps the cake and hands her the spoon. Rukia blushes, but she digs into the cake with the spoon, and then holds it up in the air for him to taste the cake.

Rukia holds her breath while she's putting the cake in his mouth, but when his eyes light up with happiness, she's sure that she managed to make the cake without screwing up.

"Is it good?" Rukia asks, and Ichigo's eyes sparkle at her.

"Very good." Ichigo says before he takes the spoon from her, and gets some to feed her.

Rukia feels like there's some sort of sensational party going on in her mouth when she's eating the cake, and even she's impressed with how great it turned out. It's also an erotic experience to be on his lap, feeding him, and letting him feed her.

Together they eat the entire cake, and when the last spoonful is deposited into Ichigo's mouth, he pulls her close to him.

"Happy Valentine's Day Ichigo." Rukia says softly, as he's swallowing his bite of cake, and he shocks her by kissing her lips very lightly.

"I'll always be your Strawberry Valentine." Ichigo says huskily, and Rukia smiles at him.

"I'm expecting something really great for White's Day!" Rukia warns him, and Ichigo just hugs her tighter.

"I'm going to spoil you rotten." Ichigo promises her, and Rukia sighs as he lays her head on his shoulder, enjoying their closeness.

She really likes the idea that he plans to spoil her for White's Day.

_Ichigo will always be my Strawberry Valentine!_


	5. White's Day

_**A/N-This is a continuation from the Valentine's Day chapter, and this chapter is rated M!!! I will warn you now since it was a T rating up until now. Also I tried to post this on the 14th, which is actually White's Day, but I kept getting errors on fanfic. I'd like to apologize on BEHALF of fanfic for their sorry timing with the issues!**_

_White's Day_

Rukia hasn't been able to stop thinking about White's Day ever since she celebrated Valentine's Day with Ichigo. She fondly remembers how other girls tried to give him chocolate and how Ichigo only accepted hers. She also has experienced a whole new feeling, and that is the feeling of having Ichigo close by.

The feelings she's been experiencing shock her, since she's always loved him, but now even in the midst of killing hollows, she has the thought in the back of her head that she can't wait until the next time she's in his arms.

The feeling is encompassing, it consumes her far more than any feelings she's had for anyone in the past, even Kaien-dono. It bothers her that she feels so attached, and that she can't make the feelings subside at all, but it's comforting that Ichigo seems to be affected by her in the exact same way.

He completely returns the yearning and desire to be close to her that she feels for him, so she's started to accept that her love is just that strong for him, even if she does wish she could get the handsome orange haired boy out of her mind from time to time.

Ichigo went out of his way to buy Rukia all kinds of new sweets that she's had yet to try, even with all of the time she's spent in the living world. He wanted to make sure that he gave her more sweets than any of the other girls in their class would get, simply because he's sure his feelings for her outdo any of his classmates feelings for any of the other girls.

He made sure he got her a box of chocolate bunnies, he also got her gummy worms, nerds, chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate covered espresso beans, peanut brittle, and of course chocolate covered strawberries. He's certain Rukia will be ecstatic when she sees how much he's spoiled her.

No matter how much he eyes all of the sweets he bought her though, it doesn't really seem to express the depths of his feelings for her, which irks him quite a bit, since he'd felt Rukia's love with the cake she'd made for him on Valentine's Day. No matter how much he assures himself that he's done enough, he doesn't feel it in his heart that he has, since candy and sweets could never possibly express the depths of his feelings for her.

For Ichigo it's been like a happy dream, ever since things began changing between them, the world seems brighter, and he's been smiling more…he knows his mother would like that. Rukia is always around, and that makes him even happier. Buying her the sweets sucked, because he had to have his sister distract Rukia so he could sneak away, and he would have preferred to spend time with her rather than shop.

_But it will be worth it to see her beautiful smile._

He can't help but grin when he imagines her reaction to the sheer volume of candy that he actually got for her.

_It's still not enough. What can I do?_

His father has been smirking a lot, and giving Ichigo speculative glances, but Ichigo has been doing his best to ignore his annoying father, since the man always finds new ways of irritating him.

Rukia walks in the room wearing a new white dress with black trim, and Ichigo's eyes pop out of his head.

"You know…I wanted to make sure I reminded you that it's White's Day." Rukia tells him, and Ichigo smirks at her.

"You really think I forgot that?" He asks, and Rukia breaks out into a big smile.

"I'm happy to hear that you didn't…but your Valentine's Day gift was waiting for you when you woke up." Rukia reminds him, and Ichigo rolls his eyes.

"Be patient, I'll be giving you your gift after we eat breakfast." Ichigo tells her, and Rukia's eyes brighten up.

"I'm going to go help Yuzu set the table!" Rukia says, and she practically skips off with Ichigo rolling his eyes after her.

_I just want to jump her…especially with her wearing that dress…I just want to take it off of her._

Isshin slides into the room and gives Ichigo a questioning glance, but Ichigo is so into his own thoughts that he doesn't notice his father staring at him with a contemplative look on his face.

"Ichigo!" Isshin says, and Ichigo nearly jumps out of his own skin, with no help from his substitute license.

"What?!" Ichigo snaps, annoyed that his father interrupted his thoughts of removing Rukia from her cute little dress.

"I thought I should tell you…there's something that used to belong to your mother…she always wanted you to have it, saying that her father had given it to her mother, and that she wanted you to give it to the woman you love. Is this something you'd be interested in me handing over to you now?" Isshin asks, and Ichigo's eyes light up.

"You should have told me sooner, old man." Ichigo says in a low voice, before he gives his father a firm nod, and Isshin motions for his son to follow him.

Ichigo follows his father into the master bedroom, and watches as Isshin goes over to the jewelry box that belonged to his mother, another thing his father had never gotten rid of.

After a moment of searching, Isshin pulls an item out of the box and closes it in his fist before he walks back to his son.

"I wasn't going to tell you until you seemed like you had fallen in love." Isshin tells Ichigo, and Ichigo blinks when his father's voice cracks.

"What is it?" Ichigo asks, and Isshin opens his hand to reveal a ring, with a big ruby to draw immediate attention to it. It's got a gold band, and an inscription in it.

_My one and only true love._

"Wow." Ichigo says as he stares at it, knowing in his heart that it is the _perfect_ gift to give to Rukia to represent his true feelings.

"Your grandparents loved each other deeply, and your mother and I loved each other deeply too. I'm happy that you're so deep in love with Rukia-chan. I know she's perfect for you." Isshin says, as Ichigo reaches out to take the ring, and he gives his father a serious look.

"I'll never give her up." Ichigo says in a hard voice, and Isshin smiles.

"I'm happy to hear it, now give her the best possible White's Day she can possibly imagine." Isshin orders his son, and Ichigo nods his head solemnly before he smirks at his father.

"I'd planned on it." Ichigo says, glad that Valentine's Day and White's Day both fell during the weekend so that they don't have to go to school.

Isshin claps his son hard on the back, as Ichigo turns to head for the kitchen.

Rukia notices the moment Ichigo enters the kitchen, because he looks pretty smug. She can't help but wonder what kind of treat he'll be giving her after breakfast. She hopes whatever it is, that it's half as yummy as some of the things she's already had the pleasure of tasting so far in the living world.

She shoots him a smile, knowing she won't let him last five minutes after breakfast without forcing him to hand over whatever it is he got her, because she has a taste for something sweet.

Breakfast passes by fairly slowly, but Rukia enjoys each bite of breakfast, because Yuzu has a habit of outdoing herself for each meal.

"This is delicious, Yuzu!" Rukia says, as she begins to working on polishing off what has been put in front of her.

_I've noticed my appetite growing, has my reiatsu grown more?_

After breakfast, Rukia rushes up to Ichigo's room before he can get there, and she sits on his bed with her arms crossed.

_I can hardly wait!_

It doesn't take Ichigo very long to join her, and when he carries in the huge basket of sweets that he had hidden from her, he watches her eyes nearly pop out of her head.

"Ichigo!" Rukia exclaims with bulging eyes, as she stares at the sheer volume of candy he's presenting her with.

"This isn't everything." Ichigo tells her in a serious voice, and Rukia forces her eyes away from the candy to his face when she hears his tone of voice.

"There's more?" Her voice is practically a squeak.

_Here goes…_

"This." Ichigo says, before he sets the basket down reaches into his pocket to pull out the ring.

Rukia gasps when she sees it, and her hand goes over her mouth. She'd been expecting candy, though not so much, but she definitely hadn't expected anything as magnificent as this.

"Ichigo!" Rukia finally breathes, and he smiles as he points at the inscription.

"Nothing could describe my feelings better than this." He says, and Rukia reads the inscription.

She didn't expect tears to well up in her eyes, but Ichigo takes her hand, and slides the ring down her ring finger. Immediately after, Rukia pulls him in for a hug, the candy temporarily forgotten.

"I feel the exact same way." She assures him, and she feels him squeeze her a bit tighter, not that she minds that one bit.

_To think I've lived so long and only recently discovered just how wonderful love can actually be!_

"I just wanted you to know." Ichigo tells her, and Rukia smiles into his chest.

_I know, my Strawberry!_

"I'm amazed you did so much." Rukia tells him, and he pulls away to give her a hot smile.

"Don't you want to dig into the candy?" He asks, and Rukia's eyes widen.

"Definitely!" She yanks herself out of his arms to check out all of the goodies in the basket, and as she stares at the candy, she feels tingly feelings running throughout her entire body.

Ichigo watches as she visibly shivers, and he wonders just how much she loves candy, before she turns back to him with her eyes shining like stars.

"Ichigo…for some reason, seeing all these sweets makes me really…um…" She trails off and blushes, which makes Ichigo blush too.

"Makes you what?" He asks, and then her eyes land on the chocolate rabbits.

"Makes me want to jump your bones..." Rukia tells him with her cheeks still tinted red, and all Ichigo can do is gawk at her for a full minute.

"What!?" He finally asks, sure he heard her wrong, but she looks like she doesn't know what she should jump on first, the candy or him.

She chooses Ichigo, and when she lands on him, he takes a step backwards, and then falls back against the bed with her.

"I really want you more than I can even explain." She tells him, just before she kisses him, and he willingly allows her to turn his senses inside out as she presses her body against his, and runs her hands over his arms and then his legs.

_Am I really going to make love?!_

"I want you too…" Ichigo admits, and he wonders if they've both lost their minds to be doing this while his entire family is home.

He isn't even able to hold that thought for very long though, because Rukia's hand slides over the one part of his body that has the ability to make his mind go in one direction only.

"I want to be one with you." Rukia mutters before she kisses him, and Ichigo returns her fervor, even as his body is silently cheering at this sudden turn of events.

_Oi King! Is she going to give me this for White's Day too?_

Ichigo ignores his hollow, since he knows the fucker is just trying to agitate him. He begins to work Rukia's dress up higher and higher, until he's able to slip his hands up and over her breasts, which makes her body tremble a bit in his arms.

"You're amazing." Ichigo says in a breathy voice in between kisses, and she responds by slipping her hand into his pants to stroke his manhood.

He groans as her fingers slide over the head of his arousal, making him feel like he's getting even harder, just from the lightness of her touch.

_Her hands are so soft!_

It feels much nicer to have her hands closing over him than it does to have his own. It doesn't take much of that for him to feel like he's about to release in her hands, so he forces her hands away so that he can get a hold of himself, without finishing off before they even really get started.

"I want you out of this dress." Ichigo tells her, and Rukia looks a bit shaky as she turns to give him access to the zipper on the back. Ichigo quickly yanks the zipper down, and then tugs at the shoulders of the material to expose her chest and belly.

He can hardly believe how beautiful and perfect her skin is, or that he's finally able to look at her like this, in the way he's dreamed for so long. He's so busy staring at her, that he doesn't notice that she's unbuttoned and unzipped his pants.

"I'm not the only one who will be losing clothing here." Rukia tells him, grabbing his attention, and Ichigo blushes since it's obvious he's got a throbbing erection.

He yanks his pants and boxers down, while Rukia slides the dress the rest of the way down her waist, revealing silky looking white panties with a pink blue stripe down the middle of them. Ichigo gets his shirt off as fast as possible, and then he swallows nervously as she pulls down her panties.

_How can she be so perfect!?_

The moment their bodies press together, they both let out a sigh of contentment, and Ichigo leans in to kiss her again, before he flips her over to her back.

"Hurry Ichigo." Rukia says, as she feels too turned on to want to keep prolonging it, and Ichigo blinks as he tentatively runs his fingers in between her legs, causing her to squirm a bit from how nice it feels.

"I don't want to hurt you…" Ichigo says softly, and Rukia reaches out to smack him across the face.

"I'm tough, don't worry about me!" Rukia orders him, and as his face stings, he smiles at her a bit.

_No matter how hard you hit me, I'm going to worry…_

He leans back over to kiss her, and then he begins to experiment by running the head of his erection over her clit and then down a bit. He feels where he's supposed to push, so he begins to work himself barely in, so that he's in perfect position for the push he's actually worried about.

Rukia moans as nothing has ever felt so supremely sweet as the feelings she's feeling being naked in his arms.

Then she feels him hesitate, and so she reaches around to squeeze his butt cheeks, and he lets out a big breath of air when she does that.

"I'm sorry…" Ichigo says, just before he pushes as hard as he can through the barrier of her virginity, and Rukia's entire body jerks then tenses up as he succeeds in pushing past her virginity, and then he stops to check on her.

Her eyes are closed tightly and it appears that she's holding her breath. When she opens her eyes to look at him, he can see a hint of tears, and it makes him feel horrible, even though his body is screaming in joy from this new experience.

"I'm okay…" Rukia says through gritted teeth, and Ichigo can tell it took some effort on her part to say so.

"Do you want to stop?" He asks with concern, and Rukia shakes her head no.

"No but don't take forever either." She tells him, and Ichigo nearly guffaws.

_I'm not going to last very long…_

He doesn't know the exact length of time, but he knows he doesn't get past ten shoves before he releases no matter how much he wanted to hold on for a few more seconds.

"Damn Rukia!" Ichigo groans into her ear as he climaxes and Rukia just holds onto him tightly, wondering why it had to hurt so damned bad her first time.

Afterwards, Rukia feels like she can feel her heart beating throughout her entire body, as though her body is in shock from the experience she just had. Seeing the basket of candy instantly cheers her up, and when Ichigo rolls off of her, she hurries to get her dress back on, and she straightens her hair. She goes for a chocolate rabbit, and then she grabs her panties to hurry for the bathroom.

Ichigo is dressed and laying on the bed with a thoughtful look on his face when Rukia comes back, and she parks herself in front of the candy, with the intent of trying a little bit of everything.

"I love you Rukia, and it won't hurt so much next time, I promise." Ichigo tells her, and Rukia just grins at him.

"Thank goodness for that, but keep your mouth shut while I enjoy my candy." Rukia orders him, before she turns back to the candy with a spark in her eyes.

"What?!" Ichigo snaps at her, and Rukia licks her lips.

"I am going to destroy you." It appears she's lost her mind and is talking to her candy.

Ichigo just smiles and shakes his head.

_Happy White's Day, Rukia._


	6. Ichi Bunny

**A/N-Happy Easter guys! I know you probably don't care much about my personal life and just want to read, so I'll just suffice it to say, stuff's been happening & I haven't been writing as much lately. That doesn't mean I've given up or stopped though. I have goals I still want to reach! Hope you enjoy my IchiRuki story! **

**Sorry this wasn't up Easter day, unfortunately my laptop battery died since I was writing while on my way to have dinner with family. So when I got home I charged it!**

_Ichi Bunny_

Ichigo cannot believe Rukia is coming back for Easter…after all he's sure she isn't at all aware of the traditional Easter Bunny that comes along with the popular earth holiday. He also can't believe that his father got him a job working as an Easter Bunny outside of a store, just so that Ichigo alone would be able to fill Rukia's Easter Basket.

"You know what would make Rukia really happy? If you walked in here wearing that rabbit costume." That's what his father had said to him two days ago, and Ichigo had punched him in the face, even though he knew that something like that probably would make her happy.

He shoves that thought out of his mind, because a week's worth of work sure enough can pay for plenty of candy, and he'll have enough leftover to take Rukia to the arcade that she loves so much.

_Why do I do so much for her? Because imagining my life without her is unacceptable._

Even though he can admit the truth to himself, he still finds it next to impossible to say out loud. He knows she cares, and part of him believes she loves him deeply, but another part of him is scared to ask.

_If she doesn't love me, it would kill me._

He knows his worries are dramatic, Rukia has done enough for him that he knows she at least cares deeply for him, and even though when she first met him, she thought of him as a boy, she has since come to consider him as a man instead.

_This week has been hell._

Kids in general are hard for him to deal with, even if he likes them. Nel wasn't the only difficult child that he's ever met. They also show their adoration and love a lot more openly than older people, which Ichigo found himself envying a bit.

"Ichigo!" Isshin bursts into his room, and Ichigo glares at his father.

"What?" He asks irritably, and Isshin crosses his arms triumphantly.

"If you're not going to wear the rabbit costume for Rukia-chan, I'll pay your classmate Ishida-kun to do it, I've already asked him, and he said to check with you one more time before calling him!" Isshin says, and Ichigo frowns.

_The last thing I want to see is Rukia all over Ishida just because he's in the damn rabbit costume…_

"Don't call Ishida over here!" Ichigo hears himself saying, even before he's finished thinking his thoughts, and Isshin looks like he's won some sort of battle.

"So you'll wear it?!" Isshin asks excitedly, and Ichigo nods his head reluctantly, even though he wants nothing to do with his father's plan…he wants no part of seeing Rukia's reaction to a human sized rabbit, since there's no telling how she'd react besides joyous.

Isshin's cheer is enough to make Ichigo want to punch him, and his father notices the dangerous glint in his son's eyes, which is why he backs out of the room, content with his win.

_When Ichigo walks through the door with Rukia-chan's basket dressed up like the Easter Bunny, she's bound to jump him, and that ought to be a riot!_

Isshin practically snickers at his plan, especially since his son seems to realize Rukia will have an enthusiastic reaction to seeing a human in a rabbit costume.

"Ichi-ni, what time will Rukia-chan get here?" Karin calls out from downstairs, and Ichigo nearly groans.

"I don't know!" He shouts back, and he can practically see Yuzu's face dropping.

_How did Rukia get so damn close to my sisters? Did it happen when I went and trained with the Vaizards?_

Then Ichigo hears his father, and he presses his face into the pillow when he hears Isshin's words.

"Don't worry girls, Rukia-chan won't want to disappoint your brother, she'll definitely be here!"

Ichigo groans loudly into the pillow, wishing his entire family would stop acting like there's something going on between the two of them when there's not, even if he wants there to be.

Suddenly a familiar feeling washes over Ichigo and he feels his heart start to beat faster as he suddenly realizes Rukia has entered the living world, since he can feel her presence so closely.

"I guess she should see me before I dress up as the fucking Easter Rabbit." Ichigo mutters, but that ends up being the case anyways, since Rukia appears in his bedroom window right after he finishes speaking.

"Ichigo!" Rukia says, with a soft smile on her lips, looking all awesome as a Shinigami.

"Rukia…" Ichigo's voice catches in his throat, since he has to catch his breath at the sight of her.

_This always happens to me when we've been apart…and she looks so beautiful as a Shinigami…_

"What's with that look on your face?" Rukia asks, as she presses her hands against her hips, and Ichigo swallows nervously as he shakes his head no at her.

"It's nothing…" He mumbles, even as he thinks what he cannot say.

_It's good to see you again…no it's great to see you again, I've missed you too damned much._

"I wanted to say hi to you first, before I came in through the front door like a normal person, I have Chappy waiting below. I have a feeling we'll see a lot of hollow action tonight. For some reason, this date along with a few others always seems to draw an extraordinary amount of hollows to earth." Rukia says conversationally, but Ichigo only half hears her, even though he'd been staring hard at her lips.

"Okay." Ichigo says simply, and Rukia grins.

"It doesn't seem to worry you at all. Don't be too cocky Ichigo, some of the greatest warriors lose to a third rate hollow." Rukia tells him, and Ichigo nods his head.

"I know my sisters are dying to see you." He finally tells her, and she frowns at that.

"I hope they weren't the only ones." Rukia says, just before she hops out the window, and that leaves him feeling like he didn't say that the right way.

"Damn." Ichigo says, even though he feels like a huge burden has lifted from his shoulders.

_Why am I always so much happier when she's here? _

He takes a deep breath.

_There's no point in trying to figure out the answers now…I have to dress up as the damned Easter Rabbit…_

When Rukia knocks on the front door, Yuzu and Karin rush to answer it. The girls both hug Rukia, with big smiles on their faces, happy she came back, and Rukia looks happily taken aback by their open affection.

"Rukia-chan, it's been too long! You know I said you could stay here forever don't you?" Isshin says, and Rukia blushes a bit.

_How nice that would be…_

"Ichi-ni said he didn't know when you would be here. I'm glad you're here so early!" Karin says and Rukia grins.

"Ichigo will be so happy to see you!" Isshin predicts, and Rukia remembers his face when he first saw her.

_Was that a look of happiness? He looked more surprised than anything…_

"I'll go get him!" Yuzu says excitedly, while her sister and father pull Rukia into the house.

Isshin closes the door, and Rukia perches on the arm of the couch, while Karin sits next to her, and Isshin sits in the chair, grinning like an idiot.

"I've missed you all." Rukia says, and Isshin keeps smiling like he's hit the jackpot.

"You've been missed in this household too, believe me Rukia-chan. Ichigo hasn't stopped moping around since the last time you were here." Isshin informs her, and Rukia raises an eyebrow.

_I already knew that, but I shouldn't probably tell them that…or Ichigo…_

Yuzu enters the room looking troubled, and she takes a deep breath to give her depressing announcement.

"He's not up there, he's disappeared!" Yuzu tells her father, Karin, and Rukia and they all look surprised.

"What? He was just up there a few minutes ago!" Karin objects, but Yuzu shakes her head firmly at her sister.

"I checked the whole upstairs, he must have slipped out right after we asked him about when Rukia-chan would be here." Yuzu tells them, and Rukia's face falls.

_I wonder why he left…wait…it doesn't feel like he's all that far away, is he up to something?_

Whatever it may be, Rukia can't imagine what, but she refuses to let herself worry so long as she can feel his reiatsu. He'd seemed a little bit nervous about something, and she won't ask unless it seems like he wants to talk about it.

"What are those?" Rukia asks, pointing at the two baskets with Karin's and Yuzu's names on them, all filled up with goodies.

"They're gifts from the Easter Bunny!" Yuzu says excitedly, and Rukia's eyes light up instantly.

"Tell me more!" Rukia asks, and Yuzu smiles.

"Every year on Easter Day, the Easter Bunny brings sweets to children all around the world!" Yuzu tells her, and Rukia bites her lip.

"Any relation to this Santa person I've heard so much about?" Rukia asks curiously, which earns a bunch of giggles from the girls.

"How can a human and a rabbit be related?" Karin asks, and Rukia shakes her head.

"I guess their mannerisms and behavior are what made me wonder." Rukia says, even as she looks a bit envious of the candy Ichigo's sisters got.

A knock at the door gets their attention and Rukia raises an eyebrow.

_Is that Ichigo? If so, why's he knocking?_

"Why don't you get that, Rukia-chan?" Isshin asks, and even though Rukia looks surprised, she stands up to do as he asked.

"Sure, no problem." Rukia says as she heads over to the door and opens it.

All concerns of Ichigo fly out the window since she can feel him so damn close, but right now a human sized rabbit is in front of her, and Rukia is in shock.

"I can't believe my birthday wish came true this year!" Rukia says, even as she begins to lose all sense of reason, and immediately hugs the large rabbit.

"Your birthday wish?" Isshin asks with a laugh while he holds up his camera phone to get a picture, and Rukia nods her head while nuzzling her cheek up against the very broad chest of the rabbit.

"I always wanted to see a really big rabbit, and I wished on my birthday for it to happen this year!" Rukia says, and Isshin shakes his head as he chuckles.

"It looks like he has something for you." Isshin says as his daughters squirm uncomfortably at the sight of Rukia being so close to what is obviously a human in a rabbit costume.

Rukia finally releases the rabbit from her grasp, though reluctantly, but her eyes light up when she sees a basket just like Karin's and Yuzu's except with her name on it.

"I get a basket too!?" Rukia exclaims, and the rabbit simply nods his head up and down at her.

"Rabbits don't talk." Isshin tells Rukia, and Rukia just beams at the big rabbit before pulling him close again.

"Thank you very much!" Rukia says, before she releases him to take her basket.

The rabbit salutes her, and then turns his back on her but Rukia quickly dodges around and stands in front of him.

"Rukia-chan?" Yuzu calls out nervously, but Rukia hugs the rabbit again.

"I don't know why I like this rabbit so much, but I don't want him to go!" Rukia says, and the rabbit shakes his head at her.

"He has to go, and get started on next years treats!" Isshin calls out, and Rukia's face falls.

"Well if he has to go then…" she trails off and the rabbit waves at her before he heads down the path.

"What did he get you?" Karin asks excitedly, and Rukia is quickly distracted from the retreating rabbit, even as he circles around the house to get out of the embarrassing costume as quickly as he can.

He's also disgruntled to find that he had a physical reaction to Rukia being all over him…he hadn't expected _that_ to happen.

The rest of the day goes smoothly since Yuzu makes a magnificent dinner, but just after dark, the hollows start appearing.

"What was your favorite part of today?" Ichigo asks her after they finish off the first wave of hollows, and Rukia smirks at him.

"I'd have to say my Ichi Bunny was my favorite part. I hope to see you dressed up as a rabbit even more in the future." Rukia tells him, and she doesn't miss the blush that covers his face.

"When did you figure it out?" Ichigo croaks out, and Rukia smiles at him.

"When I saw you again afterwards, I realized I'd been sensing you the whole time because you were dressed up as the Easter Bunny." Rukia tells him, and Ichigo nods.

"If it was your favorite part of the day, then I guess it was worth it." Ichigo tells her, and Rukia winks at him.

"If you ever dress up like that again, it will be hard to control myself," Rukia teases, and Ichigo brightens up.

_Then I'll definitely have to dress up in it again, just to see Rukia lose control of herself…_

"Really?" Ichigo asks curiously, and Rukia nods her head solemnly.

"I'll have even less control than earlier if it's my Ichi Bunny." She says, getting him to blush more, but all the romance is cut short by a second wave of hollows.

_I'll be her Ichi Bunny anytime, if she's going to lose control!_


	7. Happy Birthday, Ichigo

_Happy Birthday Ichigo_

Rukia bites her lip nervously as she considers the present she got for Ichigo. She can't help but worry he might say something insulting when he sees her handmade birthday card, but she isn't at all sure how he'll react to her gift.

_I'll have to thank Captain Ukitake for going out on a limb like this for us, and ni-sama for not going against this…_

Somehow Rukia is sure that Ichigo will be happy with what she's done, since he always seems so sad whenever she has to leave, and ecstatic whenever she returns…

Still, what the captain had asked her and what she hadn't been able to answer about still unnerves her quite a bit. It's not that she questions her feelings, she's been asked about them plenty of times, but so far the only person she's been able to admit the truth to is herself. Even so, it seems like everyone that ever knew her has noticed how she feels about him.

The whole thing has had her stomach in knots, and her mind racing a million miles a second. She's only able to put it out of her mind for a little while before she struggles with the feelings again.

"Where is he, anyways?" Rukia mumbles, in a lame attempt to get her mind off of her persistent humanoid feelings.

She shuts her eyes to concentrate on the feeling of his reiatsu and groans when she realizes he's at Urahara's shop.

_I can wait until he gets back to give him this._

Rukia eyes the big silver box with the dramatically oversized white bow on top, even as she imagines Ichigo wearing the present that's inside.

"Rukia-chan?" Yuzu's voice breaks Rukia's thoughts and she clears her throat before responding.

"Yes, in here!" Rukia calls out before she slides the box into the closet and closes the closet door before Yuzu even enters, beaming with a happy sparkle in her eyes.

"Um…I was wondering if you'd like to help me prepare the birthday cake…" Yuzu says shyly, but she grins hugely when she sees a look of excitement in Rukia's eyes.

"Of course, that'll be fun!" Rukia says, standing up and dusting off her dress.

* * *

"Have another one, Ichigo!" Yoruichi says with an evil cackle, and Ichigo starts shaking his head no at her.

"I have to go back home and eat dinner with my family! I can't get drunk beforehand!" With a firm nod of his head, Ichigo tries to push the cup away, but suddenly Tessai has him in a headlock.

"Perfect!" Yoruichi practically purrs.

"Ah! Let me go!" Ichigo snaps, but Yoruichi laughs at him again.

"This is a tradition in the Shihouin clan, on your birthday, you have to get totally blasted!" Yoruichi tells him, before she forces his head back, and pinches his nose.

The moment Ichigo opens his mouth a tiny bit to get some air, she forces him to drink, despite the fact that he immediately starts choking and coughing at her rough handed tactics. She pulls the glass away and gives him a look of exasperation.

"Kurosaki-san isn't used to this, Yoruichi-san." Kisuke says, as he grins while fanning his face, and Ichigo manages to catch his breath.

"You trying to kill me?" He demands angrily, and Yoruichi has more fluids going down his throat before he even realizes what her intention was.

"That's right Ichigo, drink up! Drinking will help you loosen up a bit you know!" Yoruichi says before she empties the cup down his throat with a satisfied nod of the head.

The moment she pulls the cup away, Ichigo begins to struggle again, but Tessai holds tight while Yoruichi forces one glass after another into Ichigo's system.

* * *

"Rukia-chan! You have flour all over your dress!" Yuzu wails in horror, even though Rukia is only staring down at the front of her dress with a wide eyed look of shock.

"What…all I did was open it!" Rukia insists, but then Yuzu starts to giggle.

"You look like a ghost or something." Yuzu says, and Rukia raises an eyebrow.

"How so? I don't have a chain on my chest…" Rukia mumbles and Yuzu looks baffled as hell.

"What?"

"Ah, nothing, I just need to go clean up since it rained flour on my chest." Rukia says hastily, before she rushes out of the kitchen.

Yuzu decides to get the flour measured out to avoid an identical catastrophe and then she waits for Rukia to return before continuing on to the next step.

* * *

"Wow Ichigo, you're a lightweight! Totally pathetic!" Yoruichi announces, since Ichigo can't even stand steady on his own two feet.

"No kidding…even I could drink more than him without falling over." Jinta says with a scoff, just before Tessai leans down and whispers in his ear.

"Oh? And how would you know that, Jinta-dono?" Tessai asks, and the redheaded boy gasps.

"I don't really know! I was just poking fun at him! Let me go Tessai…san!" Jinta says, but Tessai can smell a lie a mile away.

"Time for punishment!" Tessai declares before he throws Jinta over his shoulder like a potato sack and heads out of the room.

"I guess I'll have to take his pathetic ass home." Yoruichi says with a sigh.

"You have time, they don't eat until seven…on the dot." Urahara says, and Yoruichi smiles.

* * *

"Where's Ichi-ni" Karin asks, and Rukia shrugs.

"I don't know Karin-chan, he's been gone for a few hours. Luckily Rukia-chan and I finished making his cake while he was gone!" Yuzu says proudly, and Karin raises an eyebrow as she looks at Rukia.

"I thought if he disappeared, you'd be with him." Karin mutters nervously, and Rukia frowns at that.

"The truth is, he disappeared while I was in the shower." Rukia says, wondering why Ichigo still hasn't returned from Urahara's store.

"Where's my idiot son?" Isshin suddenly demands from behind Rukia, making her flinch in surprise.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon." Yuzu says cheerily, as she prepares to make some of her brother's favorite foods.

"I'll kick him in his ass if he's late." Isshin warns them and Yuzu laughs, while Rukia chuckles nervously.

_Should I go and get him? No…_

As the minutes get closer and closer to seven o'clock, Rukia and Ichigo's sisters all become more and more worried that he won't make it home in time for his birthday dinner. Then the moment the clock turns seven, the doorbell rings and they hear a loud thumping noise at the front door.

"What was that?" Karin asks in a suspicious voice, and Yuzu runs to the door throwing it open.

Rukia and Karin are right behind her as she opens the door. They stare wide eyed as they take in the sight of Ichigo with his eyes half open, looking cloudy and to top it off there's a bit of drool sliding down his chin. Rukia gapes at him, even as he blinks the three of them into focus.

"Did I finally stop moving?" Ichigo asks, and Rukia rolls her eyes at him.

"Get a grip Ichigo." She says in a sharp voice, which surprises both Karin and Yuzu, but not Ichigo of course.

"Okay, I think I can stand." Ichigo says, but his voice lacks the confidence one should normally have when making that statement.

Rukia watches, thunderstruck, as Ichigo slowly makes his way to his feet, but he immediately loses his balance the moment he's up, and Rukia catches him in favor of being knocked down to the ground by him. His face is right next to hers though, and she gasps when she smells his breath.

_He's been drinking!_

"Ichigo…you're an idiot." Rukia says crossly, but then he gives her a lopsided grin which catches her completely off guard.

"Can you help me make it to the table?" He whispers to her, and Rukia fights the urge to throw him into the street.

"What's wrong with Ichi-ni?" Karin asks suspiciously, and Rukia glares at Ichigo even as she lies her ass off.

"I'm not sure Karin-chan, but since he's dizzy, I'm going to help him to the table." Rukia says, and Isshin holds back laughter when he sees the pitiful state that his son is in.

"You just barely made it home in time." Isshin tells his son, but Ichigo ignores him to admire his birthday dinner.

"Yuzu outdid herself, as usual," Ichigo says, but his voice is a bit slurred.

Somehow he's sure that if he eats a bit, he'll feel better.

"I hope you're all hungry!" Yuzu says brightly.

"Everything looks delicious, Yuzu-chan!" Rukia says cheerfully, and Ichigo takes that as his queue to dig in.

"Don't forget there's cake!" Yuzu says when Ichigo finishes his plate in record time, and goes for seconds.

"Take it easy…" Rukia murmurs to Ichigo, fully aware of how drinking and eating in excess can be a bad combination.

For Ichigo though, eating seems to even out his buzz, and a euphoric sensation begins to take hold instead. Dinner flies by, and they get to the cake, Ichigo's surprised to learn that his sister had help with it.

"Rukia-chan helped make it!" Yuzu announces, and Ichigo winks at Rukia without thinking about it.

"Then I'm sure I'll like it even more." The words are past his lips before he really has time to think about what he's saying, but nevertheless it causes the normally collected Shinigami in his house to blush furiously.

To Rukia's delight, the cake turned out perfectly, and she enjoys eating it as much as she had enjoyed helping Yuzu make it. By the time they finish the cake, Ichigo is completely laid back, as his sisters present him with new shoes for his birthday, and his father gives him a new jacket.

Belatedly, Rukia realizes that Ichigo's family will believe she didn't get him a gift, and she starts to panic since she didn't want to give him his gift in front of his family.

"Didn't you get me anything, Rukia?" Ichigo finally asks, and Rukia just nods her head.

"I made you a card, it's up in your room." She tells him solemnly, and Isshin bursts into laughter at that.

"Go on, we'll clean up down here." Yuzu tells them, and Rukia just nods as she stands up, and Ichigo follows after her.

"Damn…I was fine until I stood up…now I feel dizzy again." Ichigo complains as he puts his hand to his head in irritation.

"That means that you had entirely too much to drink!" Rukia hisses at him as they head up the stairs and then into his room.

"Yoruichi-san forced me to! Tessai-san was holding me down, and Urahara-san didn't do anything to stop them! She kept going on and on about how it's a Shihouin clan tradition!" Ichigo says defensively, even as his stomach lurches.

"Are you about to puke?" Rukia asks in horror, and Ichigo flops down on his bed while he tries to simply breathe deeply without feeling ill.

"I hope not…" He finally mutters, and Rukia shakes her head at him in annoyance.

"I shouldn't even give you your gift since you're like this." Rukia grumbles, and Ichigo sits straight up in his bed after hearing that, but not without paying a price.

"I shouldn't make any quick movements…" He mutters, as Rukia crosses her arms and frowns at him.

_This isn't at all how I imagined this moment to be…_

"Shall I find you a bucket?" Rukia asks, her irritation showing in her voice.

"I'll be fine…" Ichigo mutters, and he looks hopefully at Rukia. "Did I hear you say you got me a gift?"

"Yeah butthead." Rukia mutters, and Ichigo starts smiling hugely, like a little kid.

No matter how much she wants to be mad at him, she can't possibly stay mad with him looking at her with such happy anticipation. She turns around to take the few steps necessary to get to the closet, and Ichigo's eyes stare at her silhouette the entire time her back is turned to him.

When Rukia pulls out the large box, Ichigo's eyes widen in happiness, since he can't imagine what she might have gotten for him. He sees her handmade card on top of the box and he smirks when he sees familiar looking rabbit ears on the front of the card. Normally he'd say something condescending, or plain rude about her drawings, but for some reason, the opposite type of thing comes out of his mouth today.

"Your drawings seem to have grown on me." Ichigo hears himself say, and Rukia practically falls to her face while she guffaws at him in amazement.

_Maybe I like him better on alcohol…wait no, that's just wrong._

"What?!" Rukia asks, still fairly shocked, even as Ichigo picks the card up and opens it.

"Boring. All it says is happy birthday, couldn't you have had it say something more interesting?" Ichigo says, and Rukia makes a fist, but holds back from punching him.

"Like what?" Rukia challenges him, and Ichigo throws her off again by giving her the lopsided grin that makes her heart beat a tiny bit faster…

"Like…happy birthday my sexy substitute Shinigami?" Ichigo asks hopefully, and though she tries not to smile, she's not completely successful, because the corners of her mouth pop up against her will.

"Just open it." Rukia says, and Ichigo nods his head as she uses her foot to slide the box a bit closer to him.

When he opens the box, he couldn't be more shocked at what's inside. He reaches in, and pulls out a beautifully made white captain's robe.

"Huh?" Ichigo asks in confusion, as Rukia reaches in the closet and pulls out an armband with the familiar Thirteenth Division's logo, but there's also another symbol below it, the same type of symbol he realizes is on the back of the white robe.

"I had help, but you are now an honorary captain of Soul Society, and I am your lieutenant." Rukia tells him, and Ichigo's eyes widen because even in his drunk state he realizes what this means.

"So that means I'm your superior then doesn't it?" He asks her with a mischievous glint in his eyes, and Rukia takes an instinctive step away from him.

"What?" She asks in bewilderment, and Ichigo smirks at her.

"Basically, you're my subordinate." He tells her in a firm voice, and Rukia smacks him across the face before he starts to get a really big ego over this newfound thought of his.

"Wrong!" Rukia snaps, even though she knows he's right…

"Wrong?! What do you mean? I was just going to order you to relieve your captain's stiff shoulders too!" Ichigo complains, and Rukia refuses to look him in the eyes.

"I mean…what?" Rukia says, since she'd been about to try and dodge the idea of being his subordinate, but now that he's said his shoulders are stiff, she very badly wants to help him out.

"_Don't be so shy…You look hot in that dress_" Rukia is forced to look at him now that his voice sounds like a hollow and not like his normal voice.

When gold eyes stare back at her own instead of brown ones, she feels a nervous shiver go down the center of her back.

"Ichigo?" Rukia asks in concern, but then he reaches around and smacks her on her rear end before she can step out of reach.

He chuckles in amusement when she lets out a surprised squawk, but then her hand comes around full force to smack him across the face. He catches her wrist before her hand makes contact, but his eyes are back to brown. Her free hand goes to rub her rear end which is still stinging a bit from the bite of his hand.

"Why do I feel like…" Ichigo trails off as he lets his thumb move the tiniest bit on her wrist.

"Probably because you had way too much to drink." Rukia says, figuring that was the answer to his unasked question no matter how he may have wanted to finish it.

"We're not done talking about how you're my subordinate." Ichigo reminds her, and Rukia glares at him.

"That's not the important part, because I won't let you order me around regardless of rank! The important part is that now we don't have to be apart anymore!" Rukia snaps at him, and she feels her face heat up when his eyes get incredibly warm.

"I am glad to hear that…but are there more benefits to this arrangement?" Ichigo asks her, and Rukia is confused by the look on his face…it reminds her of a cat toying with a mouse before it kills it.

"I guess you'll have to tell me if there are any, as time goes on." Rukia says, feeling nervous over the way he keeps staring at her.

"My shoulders are still stiff…" Ichigo says, giving her an adorable grin, and Rukia sighs even as she acquiesces.

"Turn around and I'll rub your shoulders." Rukia orders him, and Ichigo smiles as he gently lays the robe back in the box.

He scoots himself around so that his back is to her, and he takes off his shirt. Rukia feels a bit breathless as she steps closer to him, and she notices for the thousandth time what a nice body he's developed.

_Stop thinking like that! It was his hollow and the alcohol making him act like that!_

Rukia begins to massage his shoulders.

"Thanks, it's from trying to get away from Tessai-san…" Ichigo informs her, and Rukia shakes her head at him.

She keeps quiet as she carefully rubs the knots out of his shoulders, neck, and upper back. She keeps rubbing for awhile until Ichigo suddenly spins around.

"You look tense yourself." Ichigo tells her, before reaches out and puts his hands on her delicate shoulders.

"I'm fine…" Rukia mutters, but Ichigo spins her around anyways, and returns the favor, while marveling over how tiny and perfect she truly is.

When he finally lets his hands fall, Rukia starts to take a step away, but then his hands loop around her abdomen from behind and he pulls her into his lap.

"This is the start of a new relationship for us, but I don't want it to stop what we already started." Ichigo tells her, and Rukia cannot believe how loose his lips seem tonight, it's almost as if he's about to confess…

"What we already started?" Rukia echoes, and Ichigo hugs her from behind.

"I'm counting on you to take care of me, Vice Captain." Ichigo says before he lays down in his bed, dragging her down with him still holding her tight.

"Oi" Rukia gasps, but Ichigo kisses the back of her head, silencing any arguments he had rather effectively.

"Stay with me…that's an order." He says in a sleepy voice, but his arms tighten possessively around her as sleep claims him.

Of course Rukia is too bewildered to move, and too warm to want to try and get away.

"As long as we're just sleeping, I guess it's okay…" She mutters, but even in his dreams he responds to her.

"Good."

* * *

Before he even opens his eyes, he feels his head pounding. He knows the sun is shining, and he knows if he opens his eyes, his head will only hurt worse.

_I didn't want to wake from the dream I was having either…huh? Wait a minute…what smells so nice?_

He realizes he's not alone in bed, and so he opens one eye no matter how much it might pain him to do so, and he realizes his face is buried in Rukia's hair…and his arm is holding her back to his front rather tightly.

His heart pounds as he gasps in shock.

_I don't believe it…I'm in bed with Rukia! Then…it wasn't a dream?_

He ignores the pain of his headache as he lifts his head enough to see the large box on the floor with the captain's robe still inside. He feels a sense of relief as he realizes it wasn't a dream.

_She's here to stay…for good._

Rukia wakes up as she senses he's awoken and she blushes as she remembers the way his hands caressed her the night before, as he snored loudly in her ear.

"Good morning, Ichigo!" His father's voice gets Rukia moving like lightning.

Both she and the box containing her gift to Ichigo are in his closet before Isshin can bust through the door, but Ichigo's rather annoyed that the appearance of his father made Rukia leave his side.

Isshin jumps into the air with a silly smile on his face as he dives towards Ichigo.

"Get out." Ichigo says as he greets his father's airborne body with a punch to the face.

"Is this Rukia-chan's card?" Isshin asks, and Rukia sweats in the closet as she curses herself for not grabbing that too.

"Yes, now get out of here!" Ichigo insists, but Isshin raises an eyebrow at his son.

"Your sisters are concerned you know, since Rukia-chan never came to bed last night…and I was kind of hoping I'd come in here to find the two of you together…" Isshin says, smirking since he can sense Rukia in the closet.

"Why are they concerned?" Ichigo asks and his father uses the opportunity to cross his arms, trying to look super cool as he delivers his line.

"They don't want you to get Rukia-chan pregnant before you graduate-" Isshin is cut off by Ichigo punching him soundly in the jaw.

"Don't finish that statement." Ichigo says, but he feels like his face is on fire so he knows he's red.

"Should we move Rukia-chan's bed in here?" Isshin asks casually, and Ichigo's hesitation is all Isshin needs to fall into hopeless laughter, while his son just gets redder and redder.

Unfortunately the question makes Rukia forget that she wanted to remain unseen and she pops out of the closet with a happy expression on her face.

"Really?!" She asks, and Isshin's eyes widen but all he can do is laugh harder.

"Rukia!" Ichigo says, feeling mortified as hell, and Rukia looks confused as hell.

"What? Are you saying you want me to keep sleeping in your bed?" Rukia asks, and Isshin is laughing so hard no noise is coming out, but tears are streaming down his face.

"Rukia!" Ichigo says again, completely flabbergasted, and Rukia finally blushes.

"Was that supposed to be a secret?" She asks pitifully, and all Ichigo can do is cross his arms and look away, while wishing some divine act would kill him so he could go to Soul Society and not face his father for a few decades or more.

"Is Ichi-ni getting married?" Karin asks in a droll voice from the doorway causing Ichigo to flinch in surprise.

"Is that what happens after you share a bed?" Rukia whispers loudly, which forces Ichigo to cover her mouth with his hand as he leans over and whispers furiously in her ear.

"I am ordering you to be quiet right now." He sounds frantic even though it's a whisper and Rukia is caught completely off guard by the entire thing.

Isshin finally recovers from his amusement and nods his head enthusiastically at his daughter.

"Wonderful suggestion Karin! We'll get started on that right away!" Isshin says, and to Ichigo's amazement, he feels Rukia nodding her head excitedly at that suggestion.

His hand drops away from her face, since it doesn't seem like things can get anymore dramatic than they already are, and he flops back into bed.

"I'll tell Yuzu!" Karin bursts out before she takes off at top speed, with Isshin trailing after her to get a gander at Yuzu's expression to the news.

"They left." Rukia says, and Ichigo groans.

"You still have things to learn about the real world…" Ichigo trails off as he considers how Byakuya might react to such news.

"You'll teach me." Rukia says confidently, and Ichigo just sighs since his family is insane.

"If Byakuya doesn't kill me first." Ichigo mutters, and Rukia gasps.

"Ni-sama…" She trails off since she can't guarantee her brother won't fly off the handle when he hears the news.

"We'll tell him another day." Ichigo says firmly, and Rukia nods her immediate agreement.

"That sounds acceptable…for now. Plus, you need to take me out on some dates before we get married, it's only proper Ichigo." Rukia says, her voice sounding very authoritative.

"Yeah." Ichigo agrees simply, and he turns his head away so that she doesn't see the smile spreading across his face.

_My head doesn't hurt anymore…and Rukia's here to stay. Life is good._


End file.
